AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



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ARMY LETTERS 
FROM AN OFFICER'S WIFE 




FRAN'Ci:s M. A. RoK AND lll'-R Doc;, HAL. 



ARMY LETTERS 
FROM AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



1871-1888 



BY 



FRANCES M. A. ROE 

I) 




ILLUSTRATED BY I. W. TABER 
FROM CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHS 



NEW YORK AND LONDON 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1909 






Copyright, igog, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



2^«44 6 



Piihlishrd October, 1909 



TO 
MY COMRADE 

"FAYE" 



PREFACE 



Perhaps it is not necessary to say that the events 
mentioned in the letters are not imaginary — perhaps 
the letters themselves tell that! They are truthful ac- 
counts of experiences that came into my own life with 
the Army in the far West, whether they be about In- 
dians, desperadoes, or hunting — not one little thing 
has been stolen. They are of a life that has passed — 
as has passed the bufifalo and the antelope — yes, and 
the log and adobe quarters for the Army. All flowery 
descriptions have been omitted, as it seemed that a 
simple, concise narration of events as they actually 
occurred, was more in keeping with the life, and that 
which came into it. 

Frances M. A. Roe. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Frances M. A. Roe and her dog, Hal . Frontispiece 

"It see-sawed back and forth and then sideways, in an 

awful breakneck way " 

" My horse behaved very well " .... 

' ' I was almost swept from my saddle " . 
"Off the whole band will streak" .... 
"The long-legged dogs are steadily gaining upon him" 
"Two soldiers were found shot in the back" . 

"Watching us closely" 

"A band of Cheyenne Indians swooped down upon 

them" 

"Forty or fifty Indians came rushing down the drive 

" He tried to jerk it out of Faye's hand" 

"Saddled, and ridden away at race speed" 

"Chased these Indians all the afternoon" 

"Imagine all this savage hideousness rushing upon 

you" 

"Hal . . . has always gone with me riding or driving 
"The little black-shaved tails pulled the ambulance" 
"Then the driver would send the four mules down at 

swinging trot" 

"There was no road or even trail to be seen" 

ix 



3 

20 

31 
38 
41 
56 
59 

62 

74 

lOI 

105 
113 

117 
125 
^33 

191 

227 



X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

"The trail was so sliding that the men had to fasten big 

ropes to the upper side of the wagon" . . .249 

"The death of Buckskin Joe" 259 

"Pete was in an alkali bog and slowly going down" . 271 
"The 'pilot' is uncoupled and run down ahead" . . 313 
"The poor deer would undoubtedly have been shot if 

we had been a minute later" . . . . .323 
"The poor horse was terribly frightened" . . . 355 
"We were obliged to wade every step" , , , -375 
"The inspection was all too short" 383 



ARMY LETTERS 
FROM AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



Kit Carson, Colorado Territory, 
October, 1871. 

IT is late, so this can be only a note — to tell you that 
we arrived here safely, and will take the stage for 
Fort Lyon to-morrow morning at six o'clock. I am 
thankful enough that our stay is short at this terrible 
place, where one feels there is danger of being mur- 
dered any minute. Not one woman have I seen here, 
but there are men — any number of dreadful-looking 
men — each one armed with big pistols, and leather 
belts full of cartridges. But the houses we saw as 
we came from the station were worse even than the 
men. They looked, in the moonlight, like huge cakes 
of clay, where spooks and creepy things might be 
found. The hotel is much like the houses, and ap- 
pears to have been made of dirt, and a few drygoods 
boxes. Even the low roof is of dirt. The whole place 
is horrible, and dismal beyond description, and just 
why anyone lives here I cannot understand. 

I am all upset! Faye has just been in to say that 
only one of my trunks can be taken on the stage with 
us, and of course I had to select one that has all sorts 



2 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

of things in it, and consequently leave my pretty 
dresses here, to be sent for — all but the Japanese silk 
which happens to be in that trunk. But imagine my 
mortification in having to go with Faye to his regi- 
ment, with only two dresses. And then, to make my 
shortcomings the more vexatious, Faye will be sim- 
ply fine all the time, in his brand new uniform ! 

Perhaps I can send a long letter soon — if I live to 
reach that army post that still seems so far away. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
October, 1871. 

AFTER months of anticipation and days of weary 
■ travel we have at last got to our army home ! As 
you know. Fort Lyon is fifty miles from Kit Car- 
son, and we came all that distance in a funny look- 
ing stage coach called a " jerkey," and a good name 
for it, too, for at times it seesawed back and forth 
and then sideways, in an awful breakneck way. The 
day was glorious, and the atmosphere so clear, we 
could see miles and miles in every direction. But 
there was not one object to be seen on the vast rolling 
plains — not a tree nor a house, except the wretched 
ranch and stockade where we got fresh horses and a 
perfectly uneatable dinner. 

It was dark when we reached the post, so of course 
we could see nothing that night. General and Mrs. 
Phillips gave us a most cordial welcome — just as 
though they had known us always. Dinner was 
served soon after we arrived, and the cheerful dining 
room, and the table with its dainty china and bright 
silver, was such a surprise — so much nicer than any- 
thing we had expected to find here, and all so differ- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 5 

ent from the terrible places we had seen since reach- 
ing the plains. It was apparent at once that this was 
not a place for spooks ! General Phillips is not a real 
general — only so by brevet, for gallant service during 
the war. I was so disappointed when I was told this, 
but Faye says that he is very much afraid that I will 
have cause, sooner or later, to think that the grade of 
captain is quite high enough. He thinks this way be- 
cause, having graduated at West Point this year, he 
is only a second lieutenant just now, and General 
Phillips is his captain and company commander. 

It seems that in the Army, lieutenants are called 
" Mister " always, but all other officers must be ad- 
dressed ly their rank. At least that is what they tell 
me. But in Faye's company, the captain is called 
general, and the first lieutenant is called major, and 
as this is most confusing, I get things mixed some- 
times. Most girls would. A soldier in uniform 
waited upon us at dinner, and that seemed so funny. 
I wanted to watch him all the time, which distracted 
me, I suppose, for once I called General Phillips " Mis- 
ter ! " It so happened, too, that just that instant there 
was not a sound in the room, so everyone heard the 
blunder. General Phillips straightened back in his 
chair, and his little son gave a smothered giggle — for 
which he should have been sent to bed at once. But 
that was not all ! That soldier, who had been so dig- 
nified and stiff, put his hand over his mouth and 
fairly rushed from the room so he could laugh out- 
right. And how I longed to run some place, too — but 
not to laugh, oh, no! 

These soldiers are not nearly as nice as one would 
suppose them to be, when one sees them dressed up in 



6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

their blue uniforms with bright brass buttons. And 
they can make mistakes, too, for yesterday, when I 
asked that same man a question, he answered, " Yes, 
sorr ! " Then I smiled, of course, but he did not seem 
to have enough sense to see why. When I told Faye 
about it, he looked vexed and said I must never laugh 
at an enlisted man — that it was not dignified in the 
wife of an officer to do so. And then I told him 
that an officer should teach an enlisted man not to 
snicker at his wife, and not to call her " Sorr," which 
was disrespectful. I wanted to say more, but Faye 
suddenly left the room. 

The post is not at all as you and I had imagined 
it to be. There is no high wall around it as there is 
at Fort Trumbull. It reminds one of a prim little 
village built around a square, in the center of which 
is a high flagstaff and a big cannon. The buildings 
are very low and broad and are made of adobe — a 
kind of clay and mud mixed together — and the walls 
are very thick. At every window are heavy wooden 
shutters, that can be closed during severe sand and 
wind storms. A little ditch — they call it accqnia — 
runs all around the post, and brings water to the 
trees and lawns, but water for use in the houses is 
brought up in wagons from the Arkansas River, and 
is kept in barrels. 

Yesterday morning — our first here — we were awak- 
ened by the sounds of fife and drum that became 
louder and louder, until finally I thought the whole 
Army must be marching to the house. I stumbled over 
everything in the room in my haste to get to one of 
the little dormer windows, but there was nothing to 
be seen, as it was still quite dark. The drumming 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 7 

became less loud, and then ceased altogether, -when a 
big gun was fired that must have wasted any amount 
of powder, for it shook the house and made all the 
windows rattle. Then three or four bugles played a 
little air, which it was impossible to hear because of 
the horrible howling and crying of dogs — such howls 
of misery you never heard — they made me shiver. 
This all suddenly ceased, and immediately there were 
lights flashing some distance away, and dozens of men 
seemed to be talking all at the same time, some of 
them shouting, " Here ! " " Here ! " I began to think 
that perhaps Indians had come upon us, and called 
to Faye, who informed me in a sleepy voice that it 
was only reveille roll-call, and that each man was an- 
swering to his name. There was the same perform- 
ance this morning, and at breakfast I asked General 
Phillips why soldiers required such a beating of drums, 
and dejafening racket generally, to awaken them in the 
morning. But he did not tell me — said it was an old 
army custom to have the drums beaten along the 
officers' walk at reveille. 

Yesterday morning, directly after guard-mounting, 
Faye put on his full-dress uniform — epaulets, beau- 
tiful scarlet sash, and sword — and went over to the 
office of the commanding officer to report officially. 
The officer in command of the post is lieutenant 
colonel of the regiment, but he, also, is a general by 
brevet, and one can see by his very walk that he ex- 
pects this to be remembered always. So it is apparent 
to me that the safest thing to do is to call everyone 
general — there seem to be so many here. If I make 
a mistake, it will be on the right side, at least. 

Much of the furniture in this house was made by 



8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

soldier carpenters here at the post, and is not only 
very nice, but cost General Phillips almost nothing, 
and, as we have to buy everything, I said at dinner 
last evening that we must have some precisely like it, 
supposing, of course, that General Phillips would feel 
highly gratified because his taste was admired. But 
instead of the smile and gracious acquiescence I had 
expected, there was another straightening back in the 
chair, and a silence that was ominous and chilling. 
Finally, he recovered sufficient breath to tell me that 
at present, there were no good carpenters in the com- 
pany. Later on, however, I learned that only cap- 
tains and officers of higher rank can have such things. 
The captains seem to have the best of everything, and 
the lieutenants are expected to get along with smaller 
houses, much less pay, and much less everything else, 
and at the same time perform all of the disagreeable 
duties. 

Faye is wonderfully amiable about it, and assures 
me that when he gets to be a captain I will see that it is 
just and fair. But I happen to remember that he told 
me not long ago that he might not get his captaincy 
for twenty years. Just think of it — a whole long life- 
time — and always a Mister, too— and perhaps by that 
time it will be " just and fair " for the lieutenants to 
have everything ! 

We saw our house yesterday — quarters I must 
learn to say — and it is ever so much nicer than we 
had expected it to be. All of the officers' quarters 
are new, and this set has never been occupied. It has 
a hall with a pretty stairway, three rooms and a large 
shed downstairs, and two rooms and a very large hall 
closet on the second floor. A soldier is cleaning the 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 9 

windows and floors, and making things tidy generally. 
Many of the men like to cook, and do things for offi- 
cers of their company, thereby adding to their pay, 
and these men are called strikers. 

There are four companies here — three of infantry 
and one troop of cavalry. You must always remem- 
ber that Faye is in the infantry. With the cavalry 
he has a classmate, and a friend, also, which will make 
it pleasant for both of us. In my letters to you I will 
disregard army etiquette, and call the lieutenants by 
their rank, otherwise you would not know of whom 
I was writing — an officer or civilian. Lieutenant 
Baldwin has been on the frontier many years, and is 
an experienced hunter of buffalo and antelope. He 
says that I must commence riding horseback at once, 
and has generously offered me the use of one of his 
horses. Mrs. Phillips insists upon my using her sad- 
dle until I can get one from the East, so I can ride 
as soon as our trunks come. And I am to learn to 
shoot pistols and guns, and do all sorts of things. 

We are to remain with General and Mrs. Phillips 
several days, while our own house is being made 
habitable, and in the meantime our trunks and boxes 
will come, also the colored cook. I have not missed 
my dresses very much — there has been so much else 
to think about. There is a little store just outside 
the post that is named " Post Trader's," where many 
useful things are kept, and we have just been there 
to purchase some really nice furniture that an officer 
left to be sold when he was retired last spring. We 
got only enough to make ourselves comfortable dur- 
ing the winter, for it seems to be the general belief 
here that these companies of infantry will be ordered 



lo ARMY LETTERS E R O M 

to Camp Supply, Indian Territory, in the spring. It 
must be a most dreadful place — with old log houses 
built in the hot sand hills, and surrounded by almost 
every tribe of hostile Indians. 

It may not be possible for me to write again for 
several days, as I will be very busy getting settled 
in the house. I must get things arranged just as soon 
as I can, so I will be able to go out on horseback with 
Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
October, 187 1. 

WHEN a very small girl, I was told many won- 
derful tales about a grand Indian chief called 
Red Jacket, by my great-grandmother, who, you 
will remember, saw him a number of times when she, 
also, was a small girl. And since then — almost all my 
life — I have wanted to see with my very own eyes 
an Indian — a real noble red man — dressed in beautiful 
skins embroidered with beads, and on his head long, 
waving feathers. 

Well, I have seen an Indian — a number of Indians 
• — but they were not Red Jackets, neither were they 
noble red men. They were simply, and only, painted, 
dirty, and nauseous-smelling savages! Mrs. Phillips 
says that Indians are all alike — that when you have 
seen one you have seen all. And she must know, for 
she has lived on the frontier a long time, and has seen 
many Indians of many tribes. 

We went to Las Animas yesterday, Mrs. Phillips, 
Mrs. Cole, and I, to do a little shopping. There are 
several small stores in the half-Mexican village, where 
curious little things from Mexico can often be found, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE ii 

if one does not mind poking about underneath the 
trash and dirt that is everywhere. While we were 
in the largest of these shops, ten or twelve Indians 
dashed up to the door on their ponies, and four of 
them, slipping down, came in the store and passed on 
quickly to the counter farthest back, where the ammu- 
nition is kept. As they came toward us in their impe- 
rious way, never once looking to the right or to the 
left, they seemed like giants, and to increase in size 
and numbers with every step. 

Their coming was so sudden we did not have a 
chance to get out of their way, and it so happened 
that Mrs. Phillips and I were in their line of march, 
and when the one in the lead got to us, we were 
pushed aside with such impatient force that we both 
fell over on the counter. The others passed on just 
the same, however, and if we had fallen to the floor, 
I presume they would have stepped over us, and 
otherwise been oblivious to our existence. This was 
my introduction to an Indian — the noble red man ! 

As soon as they got to the counter they demanded 
powder, balls, and percussion caps, and as these things 
were given them, they were stuffed down their muz- 
zle-loading rifles, and what could not be rammed 
down the barrels was put in greasy skin bags and 
hidden under their blankets. I saw one test the sharp 
edge of a long, wicked-looking knife, and then it, also, 
disappeared under his blanket. All this time the other 
Indians were on their ponies in front, watching every 
move that was being made around them. 

There was only the one small door to the little 
adobe shop, and into this an Indian had ridden his pie- 
bald pony ; its forefeet were up a step on the sill and 



12 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

its head and shoulders were in the room, which made 
it quite impossible for us three frightened women to 
run out in the street. So we got back of a counter, 
and, as Mrs. Phillips expressed it, " midway between 
the devil and the deep sea." There certainly could 
be no mistake about the " devil " side of it! 

It was an awful situation to be in, and one to terrify 
anybody. We were actually prisoners — penned in 
with all those savages, who were evidently in an ugly 
mood, with quantities of ammunition within their 
reach, and only two white men to protect us. Even 
the few small windows had iron bars across. They 
could have killed every one of us, and ridden far 
away before anyone in the sleepy town found it out. 

Well, when those inside had been given, or had 
helped themselves to, whatever they wanted, out they 
all marched again, quickly and silently, just as they 
had come in. They instantly mounted their ponies, 
and all rode down the street and out of sight at race 
speed, some leaning so far over on their little beasts 
that one could hardly see the Indian at all. The pony 
that was ridden into the store door was without a 
bridle, and was guided by a long strip of buffalo skin 
which was fastened around his lower jaw by a slip- 
knot. It is amazing to see how tractable the Indians 
can make their ponies with only that one rein. 

The storekeeper told us that those Indians were 
Utes, and were greatly excited because they had just 
heard there was a small party of Cheyennes down the 
river two or three miles. The Utes and Cheyennes 
are bitter enemies. He said that the Utes were very 
cross — ready for the blood of Indian or white man — 
therefore he had permitted them to do about as they 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 13 

pleased while in the store, particularly as we were 
there, and he saw that we were frightened. That 
young man did not know that his own swarthy face 
was a greenish white all the time those Indians were 
in the store ! Not one penny did they pay for the 
things they carried ofif. Only two years ago the en- 
tire Ute nation was on the warpath, killing every 
white person they came across, and one must have 
much faith in Indians to believe that their " change of 
heart " has been so complete that these Utes have 
learned to love the white man in so short a time. 

No ! There was hatred in their eyes as they ap- 
proached us in that store, and there was restrained 
murder in the hand that pushed Mrs. Phillips and me 
over. They were all hideous — with streaks of red or 
green paint on their faces that made them look like 
fiends. Their hair was roped with strips of bright- 
colored stuff, and hung down on each side of their 
shoulders in front, and on the crown of each black 
head was a small, tightly plaited lock, ornamented at 
the top with a feather, a piece of tin, or something 
fantastic. These were their scalp locks. They wore 
blankets over dirty old shirts, and of course had on 
long, trouserlike leggings of skin and moccasins. 
They were not tall, but rather short and stocky. The 
odor of those skins, and of the Indians themselves, in 
that stuffy little shop, I expect to smell the rest of my 
life! 

We heard this morning that those very savages rode 
out on the plains in a roundabout way, so as to get 
in advance of the Cheyennes, and then had hidden 
themselves on the top of a bluff overlooking the trail 
they knew the Cheyennes to be following, and had 



14 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

fired upon them as they passed below, killing two and 
wounding a number of others. You can see how 
treacherous these Indians are, and how very far from 
noble is their method of warfare! They are so dis- 
appointing, too — so wholly unlike Cooper's red men. 

We were glad enough to get in the ambulance and 
start on our way to the post, but alas ! our trou- 
bles were not over. The mules must have felt the 
excitement in the air, for as soon as their heads were 
turned toward home they proceeded to run away with 
us. We had the four little mules that are the special 
pets of the quartermaster, and are known throughout 
the garrison as the " shaved-tails," because the hair on 
their tails is kept closely cut down to the very tips, 
where it is left in a square brush of three or four 
inches. They are perfectly matched — coal-black all 
over, except their little noses, and are quite small. 
They are full of mischief, and full of wisdom, too, 
even for government mules, and when one says, 
" Let's take a sprint," the others always agree — about 
that there is never the slightest hesitation. 

Therefore, when we first heard the scraping of the 
brake, and saw that the driver was pulling and saw- 
ing at the tough mouths with all his strength, no one 
was surprised, but we said that we wished they had 
waited until after we had crossed the Arkansas River. 
But we got over the narrow bridge without meeting 
more than one man^ who climbed over the railing and 
seemed less anxious to meet us than we were to meet 
him. As soon as we got on the road again, those 
mules, with preliminary kicks and shakes of their big 
heads, began to demonstrate how fast they could go. 
We had the best driver at the post, and the road was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 15 

good and without sharp turns, but the ambulance was 
high, and swayed, and the pace was too fast for com- 
fort. 

The Httle mules ran and ran, and we held our- 
selves on our seats the best we could, expecting to be 
tipped over any minute. When we reached the post 
they made a wonderful turn and took us safely to the 
government corral, where they stopped, just when 
they got ready. One leader looked around at us and 
commenced to bray, but the driver was in no mood 
for such insolence, and jerked the poor thing almost 
down. 

Three tired, disheveled women walked from the 
corral to their homes ; and very glad one of them was 
to get home, too! Hereafter I shall confine myself 
to horseback riding — for, even if John is frisky at 
times, I prefer to take my chances with the one horse, 
to four little long-eared government mules ! But I 
have learned to ride very well, and have a secure seat 
now. My teachers, Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin, 
have been most exacting, but that I wanted. Of 
course I ride the army way, tight in the saddle, which 
is more difificult to learn. Any attempt to "rise " when 
on a trot is ridiculed at once here, and it does look 
absurd after seeing the splendid and graceful riding 
of the officers. I am learning to jump the cavalry 
hurdles and ditches, too. I must confess, however, 
that taking a ditch the first time was more exciting 
than enjoyable. John seemed to like it better than I 
did. 



i6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
November, 1871. 

IN many of my letters I have written about learning 
to ride and to shoot, and have told you, also, of 
having followed the greyhounds after coyotes and rab- 
bits with Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin. These hunts 
exaPet the very best of riding and a fast horse, for 
coyotes are very swift, and so are jack-rabbits, too, 
and one look at a greyhound will tell anyone that he 
can run — and about twice as fast as the big-eared fox- 
hounds in the East. But I started to write you about 
something quite different from all this — to tell you 
of a really grand hunt I have been on — a splendid 
chase after buffalo ! 

A week or so ago it was decided that a party of en- 
listed men should be sent out to get buffalo meat for 
Thanksgiving dinner for everybody — officers and en- 
listed men — and that Lieutenant Baldwin, who is an ex- 
perienced hunter, should command the detail. You 
can imagine how proud and delighted I was when 
asked to go with them, Lieutenant Baldwin saying 
that the hunt would be worth seeing, and well repay 
one for the fatigue of the hard ride. 

So, one morning after an early breakfast, the horses 
were led up from the stables, each one having on a 
strong halter, and a coiled picket rope with an iron pin 
fastened to the saddle. These were carried so that 
if it should be found necessary to secure the horses 
on the plains, they could be picketed out. The bache- 
lors' set of quarters is next to ours, so we all got 
ready together, and I must say that the deliberate way 
in which each girth was examined, bridles fixed, rifles 
fastened to saddles, and other things done, was most 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 17 

exasperating. But we finally started, about seven 
o'clock, Lieutenant Baldwin and I taking the lead, and 
Faye and Lieutenant Alden following. 

The day was very cold, with a strong wind blowing, 
so I wore one of Faye's citizen caps, with tabs tied 
down over my ears, and a large silk handkerchief 
around my neck, all of which did not improve my 
looks in the least, but it was quite in keeping with the 
dressing of the officers, who had on buckskin shirts, 
with handkerchiefs, leggings, and moccasins. Two 
large army wagons followed us, each drawn by four 
mules, and carrying several enlisted men. Mounted 
orderlies led extra horses that officers and men were 
to ride when they struck the herd. 

Well, we rode twelve miles without seeing one liv- 
ing thing, and then we came to a little adobe ranch 
where we dismounted to rest a while. By this time 
our feet and hands were almost frozen, and Faye 
suggested that I should remain at the ranch until they 
returned; but that I refused to do — to give up the 
hunt was not to be thought of, particularly as a 
ranchman had just told us that a small herd of buf- 
falo had been seen that very morning only two miles 
farther on. So, when the horses were a little rested, 
we started, and, after riding a mile or more, we came 
to a small ravine, where we found one poor buffalo, 
too old and emaciated to keep up with his companions, 
and who, therefore, had been abandoned by them, to 
die alone. He had eaten the grass as far as he could 
reach, and had turned around and around until the 
ground looked as though it had been spaded. 

He got up on his old legs as we approached him, 
and tried to show fight by dropping his head and 



i8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

throwing his horns to the front, but a child could 
have pushed him over. One of the officers tried to 
persuade me to shoot him, saying it would be a hu- 
mane act, and at the same time give me the prestige 
of having killed a buffalo ! But the very thought of 
pointing a pistol at anything so weak and utterly help- 
less was revolting in the extreme. He was such an 
object of pity, too, left there all alone to die of star- 
vation, when perhaps at one time he may have been 
leader of his herd. He was very tall, had a fine head, 
with an uncommonly long beard, and showed every 
indication of having been a grand specimen of his 
kind. 

We left him undisturbed, but only a few min- 
utes later we heard the sharp report of a rifle, and 
at once suspected, what we learned to be a fact the 
next day, that one of the men with the wagons had 
killed him. Possibly this was the most merciful thing 
to do, but to me that shot meant murder. The pitiful 
bleary eyes of the helpless old beast have haunted me 
ever since we saw him. 

We must have gone at least two miles farther be- 
fore we saw the herd we were looking for, making 
fifteen or sixteen miles altogether that we had ridden. 
The buffalo were grazing quietly along a meadow in 
between low, rolling hills. We immediately fell back 
a short distance and waited for the wagons, and when 
they came up there was great activit}', I assure you. 
The officers' saddles were transferred to their hunters, 
and the men wlio were to join in the chase got their 
horses and rifles ready. Lieutenant Baldwin gave his 
instructions to everybody, atid all started off, each one 
going in a different direction so as to form a cordon. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 19 

Faye said, around the whole herd. Faye would 
not join in the hunt, but remained with me the entire 
day. He and I rode over the hill, stopping when we 
got where we could command a good view of the 
valley and watch the run. 

It seemed only a few minutes when we saw the buf- 
falo start, going from some of the men, of course, 
who at once began to chase them. This kept them 
running straight ahead, and, fortunately, in Lieuten- 
ant Baldwin's direction, who apparently was holding 
his horse in, waiting for them to come. We saw 
through our field glasses that as soon as they got near 
enough he made a quick dash for the herd, and cut- 
ting one out, had turned it so it was headed straight 
for us. 

Now, being on a buffalo hunt a safe distance off, 
was one thing, but to have one of those huge animals 
come thundering along like a steam engine directly 
upon you, was quite another. I was on one of Lieu- 
tenant Baldwin's horses, too, and I felt that there 
might be danger of his bolting to his companion, Tom, 
when he saw him dashing by, and as I was not anxious 
to join in a buffalo chase just at that time, I begged 
Faye to go with me farther up the hill. But he 
would not go back one step, assuring me that my 
horse was a trained hunter and accustomed to such 
sights. 

Lieutenant Baldwin gained steadily on the buffalo, 
and in a wonderfully short time both passed directly 
in front of us — within a hundred feet, Faye said. 
Lieutenant Baldwin was close upon him then, his horse 
looking very small and slender by the side of the 
grand animal that was taking easy, swinging strides, 



20 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



apparently without effort and without speed, his 
tongue lolHng at one side. But we could see that the 
pace was really terrific — that Lieutenant Baldwin was 
freely using the spur, and that his swift thoroughbred 
was stretched out like a greyhound, straining every 
muscle in his effort to keep up. He was riding close 
to the buffalo on his left, with revolver in his right 




"My horse behaved very well." 

hand, and I wondered why he did not not shoot, but 
Faye said it would be useless to fire then — that Lieu- 
tenant Baldwin must get up nearer the shoulder, as a 
buffalo is vulnerable only in certain parts of his body, 
and that a hunter of experience like Lieutenant Bald- 
win would never think of shooting unless he could 
aim at heart or lungs. 

My horse behaved very well — just whirling around 
a few times — ^but Faye was kept busy a minute or 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 21 

two by his, for the poor horse was awfully fright- 
ened, and lunged and reared and snorted ; but I 
knew that he could not unseat Faye, so I rather en- 
joyed it, for you know I had wanted to go back a 
little ! 

Lieutenant Baldwin and the bufifalo were soon far 
away, and when our horses had quieted down we re- 
called that shots had been fired in another direction, 
and looking about, we saw a pathetic sight. Lieuten- 
ant Alden was on his horse, and facing him was an 
immense bufifalo, standing perfectly still with chin 
drawn in and horns to the front, ready for battle. It 
was plain to be seen that the poor horse was not en- 
joying the meeting, for every now and then he would 
try to back away, or give a jump sideways. The 
bufifalo was wounded and unable to run, but he could 
still turn around fast enough to keep his head to- 
ward the horse, and this he did every time Lieutenant 
Alden tried to get an aim at his side. 

There was no possibility of his killing him with- 
out assistance, and of course the poor beast could not 
be abandoned in such a helpless condition, so Faye de- 
cided to go over and worry him, while Lieutenant 
Alden got in the fatal shot. As soon as Faye got there 
I put my fingers over my ears so that I would not 
hear the report of the pistol. After a while I looked 
across, and there was the bufifalo still standing, and 
both Faye and Lieutenant Alden were beckoning for 
me to come to them. At first I could not understand 
what they wanted, and I started to go over, but it 
finally dawned upon me that they were actually wait- 
ing for me to come and kill that bufifalo! I saw no 
glory in shooting a wounded animal, so I turned my 
3 



22 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

horse back again, but had not gone far before I heard 
the pistol shot. 

Then I rode over to see the huge animal, and found 
Faye and Lieutenant Alden in a state of great ex- 
citement. They said he was a magnificent specimen 
— unusually large, and very black — what they call a 
blue skin — with a splendid head and beard. I had 
been exposed to a bitterly cold wind, without the 
warming exercise of riding, for over an hour, and my 
hands were so cold and stiff that I could scarcely hold 
the reins, so they jumped me up on the shoulders of 
the warm body, and I buried my hands in the long fur 
on his neck. He fell on his wounded side, and looked 
precisely as though he was asleep — so much so that 
I half expected him to spring up and resent the in- 
dignity he was being subjected to. 

Very soon after that Faye and I came on home, 
reaching the post about seven o'clock. We had been 
in our saddles most of the time for twelve hours, on a 
cold day, and were tired and stiff, and when Faye 
tried to assist me from my horse I fell to the ground 
in a heap. But I got through the day very well, con- 
sidering the very short time I have been riding — that 
is, really riding. The hunt was a grand sight, and 
something that probably I will never have a chance 
of seeing again — and, to be honest, I do not want to 
see another, for the sight of one of those splendid ani- 
mals running for his life is not a pleasant one. 

The rest of the party did not come in until several 
hours later ; but they brought the meat and skins of 
four buffalo, and 'the head of Lieutenant Alden's, 
which he will send East to be mounted. The skin he 
intends to take to an Indian camp, to be tanned by 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 23 

the squaws. Lieutenant Baldwin followed his buffalo 
until he got in the position he wanted, and then killed 
him with one shot. Faye says that only a cool head 
and experience could have done that. Much depends 
upon the horse, too, for so many horses are afraid of 
a buffalo, and lunge sideways just at the critical 
moment. 

Several experienced hunters tell marvelous tales of 
how they have stood within a few yards of a buffalo 
and fired shot after shot from a Springfield rifle, 
straight at his head, the balls producing no effect 
whatever, except, perhaps, a toss of the head and the 
flying out of a tuft of hair. Every time the ball would 
glance off from the thick skull. The wonderful mat 
of curly hair must break the force some, too. This 
mat, or cushion, in between the horns of the buffalo 
Lieutenant Alden killed, was so thick and tangled that 
I could not begin to get my fingers in it. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
December, 1871. 

OUR first Christmas on the frontier was ever so 
pleasant, but it certainly was most vexatious not 
to have that box from home. And I expect that it 
has been at Kit Carson for days, waiting to be 
brought down. We had quite a little Christmas with- 
out it, however, for a number of things came from the 
girls, and several women of the garrison sent pretty 
little gifts to me. It was so kind and thoughtful of 
them to remember that I might be a bit homesick just 
now. All the little presents were spread out on a 
table, and in a way to make them present as fine an 
appearance as possible. Then I printed in large let- 



24 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ters, on a piece of cardboard, " One box — contents 
unknown ! " and stood it up on the back of the table. 
I did this to let everyone know that we had not been 
forgotten by home people. My beautiful new saddle 
was brought in, also, for although I had had it several 
weeks, it was really one of Faye's Christmas gifts 
to me. 

They have such a charming custom in the Army of 
going along the line Christmas morning and giving 
each other pleasant greetings and looking at the 
pretty things everyone has received. This is a rare 
treat out here, where we are so far from shops and 
beautiful Christmas displays. We all went to the 
bachelors' quarters, almost everyone taking over some 
little remembrance — homemade candy, cakes, or some- 
thing of that sort. 

I had a splendid cake to send over that morning, 
and I will tell you just what happened to it. At home 
we always had a large fruit cake made for the holi- 
days, long in advance, and I thought I would have 
one this year as near like it as possible. But it seemed 
that the only way to get it was to make it. So, about 
four weeks ago, I commenced. It was quite an un- 
dertaking for me, as I had never done anything of 
the kind, and perhaps I did not go about it the easi- 
est way, but I knew how it should look when done, 
and of course I knew precisely how it should taste, 
Eliza makes delicious every-day cake, but was no as- 
sistance whatever with the fruit cake, beyond en- 
couraging me with the assurance that it would not 
matter in the least if it should be heavy. 

Well, for two long, tiresome days I worked over 
that cake, preparing with my own fingers every bit 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 25 

of the fruit, which I consider was a fine test of per- 
severance and staying quaHties. After the ingre- 
dients were all mixed together there seemed to be 
enough for a whole regiment, so we decided to make 
two cakes of it. They looked lovely when baked, and 
just right, and smelled so good, too ! I wrapped 
them in nice white paper that had been wet with 
brandy, and put them carefully away — one in a stone 
jar, the other in a tin box — and felt that I had done 
a remarkably fine bit of housekeeping. The bachelors 
have been exceedingly kind to me, and I rejoiced at 
having a nice cake to send them Christmas morning. 
But alas ! I forgot that the little house was fragrant 
with the odor of spice and fruit, and that there was 
a man about who was ever on the lookout for good 
things to eat. It is a shame that those cadets at West 
Point are so starved. They seem to be simply fam- 
ished for months after they graduate. 

It so happened that there was choir practice that 
very evening, and that I was at the chapel an hour 
or so. When I returned, I found the three bachelors 
sitting around the open fire, smoking, and looking 
very comfortable indeed. Before I was quite in the 
room they all stood up and began to praise the cake. 
I think Faye was the first to mention it, saying it was 
a " great success " ; then the others said " perfectly 
delicious," and so on, but at the same time assuring 
me that a large piece had been left for me. 

For one minute I stood still, not in the least grasp- 
ing their meaning; but finally I suspected mischief, 
they all looked so serenely contented. So I passed on 
to the dining room, and there, on the table, was one 
of the precious cakes — at least what was left of it, the 



26 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

very small piece that had been so generously saved 
for me. And there were plates with crumbs, and nap- 
kins, that told the rest of the sad tale — and there was 
wine and empty glasses, also. Oh, yes ! Their early 
Christmas had been a fine one. There was nothing 
for me to say or do — at least not just then — so I went 
back to the little living-room and forced myself to be 
halfway pleasant to the four men who were there, each 
one looking precisely like the cat after it had eaten 
the canary ! The cake was scarcely cold, and must 
have been horribly sticky — and I remember wonder- 
ing, as I sat there, which one would need the doctor 
first, and what the doctor would do if they were all 
seized with cramps at the same time. But they were 
not ill — not in the least — which proved that the cake 
was well baked. If they had discovered the other one, 
however, there is no telling what might have happened. 

At half after ten yesterday the chaplain held serv- 
ice, and the little chapel was crowded — so many of 
the enlisted men were present. We sang our Christ- 
mas music, and received many compliments. Our lit- 
tle choir is really very good. Both General Phillips 
and Major Pierce have fine voices. One of the in- 
fantry sergeants plays the organ now, for it was quite 
too hard for me to sing and work those old pedals. 
Once I forgot them entirely, and everybody smiled 
— even the chaplain ! 

From the chapel we — that is, the company officers 
and their wives — went to the company barracks to see 
the men's dinner tables. When we entered the dining 
hall we found the entire company standing in two 
lines, one down each side, every man in his best in- 
spection uniform, and every button shining. With 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 27 

eyes to the front and hands down their sides they 
looked absurdly like wax figures waiting to be 
" wound up," and I did want so much to tell the little 
son of General Phillips to pinch one and make him 
jump. He would have done it, too, and then put all 
the blame upon me, without loss of time. 

The first sergeant came to meet us, and went 
around with us. There were three long tables, fairly 
groaning with things upon them: buffalo, antelope, 
boiled ham, several kinds of vegetables, pies, cakes, 
quantities of pickles, dried " apple-duff," and coffee *, 
and in the center of each table, high up, was a huge 
cake thickly covered with icing. These were the 
cakes that Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Barker, and I had sent 
over that morning. It is the custom in the regiment 
for the wives of the officers every Christmas to send 
the enlisted men of their husbands' companies large 
plum cakes, rich with fruit and sugar. Eliza made 
the cake I sent over, a fact I made known from 
its very beginning, to keep it from being devoured by 
those it was not intended for. 

The hall was very prettily decorated with flags and 
accoutrements, but one missed the greens. There are 
no evergreen trees here, only cottonwood. Before 
coming out, General Phillips said a few pleasant words 
to the men, wishing them a " Merry Christmas " for 
all of us. Judging from the laughing and shuffling of 
feet as soon as we got outside, the men were glad to 
be allowed to relax once more. 

At six o'clock Faye and I, Lieutenant Baldwin, 
and Lieutenant Alden dined with Doctor and Mrs. 
Wilder. It was a beautiful little dinner, very delicious, 
and served in the daintiest manner possible. But out 



28 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

here one is never quite sure of what one is eating, for 
sometimes the most tempting dishes are made of al- 
most nothing. At hohday time, however, it seems 
that the post trader sends to St. Louis for turkeys, 
celery, canned oysters, and other things. We have no 
fresh vegetables here, except potatoes, and have to 
depend upon canned stores in the commissary for a 
variety, and our meat consists entirely of beef, except 
now and then, when we may have a treat to buffalo 
or antelope. 

The commanding officer gave a dancing party Fri- 
day evening that was most enjoyable. He is a wid- 
ower, you know. His house is large, and the rooms 
of good size, so that dancing was comfortable. The 
music consisted of one violin with accordion accom- 
paniment. This would seem absurd in the East, but 
I can assure you that one accordion, when played well 
by a German, is an orchestra in itself. And Doos 
plays very well. The girls East may have better music 
to dance by, and polished waxed floors to slip down 
upon, but they cannot have the excellent partners one 
has at an army post, and I choose the partners ! 

The officers are excellent dancers — every one of 
them — and when you are gliding around, your chin, 
or perhaps your nose, getting a scratch now and then 
from a gorgeous gold epaulet, you feel as light as 
a feather, and imagine yourself with a fairy prince. 
Of course the officers were in full-dress uniform Fri- 
day night, so I know just what I am talking about, 
scratches and all. Every woman appeared in her 
finest gown. I wore my nile-green silk, which I am 
afraid showed off my splendid coat of tan only too 
well. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 29 

The party was given for Doctor and Mrs. Anderson, 
who are guests of General Bourke for a few days. 
They are en route to Fort Union, New Mexico. Mrs. 
Anderson was very handsome in an elegant gown of 
London-smoke silk. I am to assist Mrs. Phillips in 
receiving New Year's day, and shall wear my pearl- 
colored Irish poplin. We are going out now for a lit- 
tle ride. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
January, 1872. 

WHEN we came over on the stage from Kit Car- 
son last fall, I sat on top with the driver, who 
told me of many terrible experiences he had passed 
through during the years he had been driving a stage 
on the plains, and some of the most thrilling were of 
sand storms, when he had, with great difficulty, saved 
the stage and perhaps his own life. There have been 
ever so many storms, since we have been here, that 
covered everything in the houses with dust and sand, 
but nothing at all like those the driver described. 
But yesterday one came — a terrific storm — and it so 
happened that I was caught out in the fiercest part 
of it. 

As Faye was officer of the day, he could not leave 
the garrison, so I rode with Lieutenant Baldwin and 
Lieutenant Alden. The day was glorious — sunny, and 
quite warm — one of Colorado's very best, without a 
cloud to be seen in any direction. We went up the 
river to the mouth of a pretty little stream commonly 
called " The Picket Wire," but the real name of which 
is La Purgatoire. It is about five miles from the 
post and makes a nice objective point for a short 
ride, for the clear water gurgling over the stones, and 



30 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

the trees and bushes along its banks, are always at- 
tractive in this treeless country. 

The canter up was brisk, and after giving our 
horses the drink from the running stream they always 
beg for, we started back on the road to the post in 
unusually fine spirits. Almost immediately, however. 
Lieutenant Baldwin said, " I do not like the looks of 
that cloud over there ! " We glanced back in the 
direction he pointed, and seeing only a streak of dark 
gray low on the horizon, Lieutenant Alden and I paid 
no more attention to it. But Lieutenant Baldwin was 
very silent, and ever looking back at the queer gray 
cloud. Once I looked at it, too, and was amazed at 
the wonderfully fast way it had spread out, but just 
then John shied at something, and in managing the 
horse I forgot the cloud. 

When about two miles from the post. Lieutenant 
Baldwin, who had fallen back a little, called to us, 
" Put your horses to their best pace — a sand storm is 
coming! " Then we knew there was a possibility of 
much danger, for Lieutenant Baldwin is known to be a 
keen observer, and our confidence in his judgment was 
great, so, without once looking back to see what was 
coming after us, Lieutenant Alden and I started our 
horses on a full run. * 

Well, that cloud increased in size with a rapidity 
you could never imagine, and soon the sun was ob- 
scured as if by an eclipse. It became darker and 
darker, and by the time we got opposite the post 
trader's there could be heard a loud, continuous roar, 
resembling that of a heavy waterfall. 

Just then Lieutenant Baldwin grasped my bridle rein 
on the right and told Lieutenant Alden to ride close 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



31 







'I was almost swept from my saddle." 



on my left, which was done not a second too soon, 
for as we reached the officers' hne the storm struck us, 
and with such force that I was almost swept from my 
saddle. The wind was terrific and going at hurricane 
speed, and the air so thick with sand and dirt we could 
not see the ears of our own horses. The world seemed 
to have narrowed to a space that was appalling ! You 
will think that this could never have been — that I was 
made blind by terror — but I can assure you that the 
absolute truth is being written. 

Lieutenant Baldwin's voice sounded strange and far, 
far away when he called to me, "Sit tight in your sad- 
dle and do not jump!" And then again he fairly 



32 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



yelled, " We must stay together — and keep the horses 
from stampeding to the stables ! " He was afraid 
they would break away and dash us against the iron 
supports to the flagstaff in the center of the parade 
ground. How he could say one word, or even open 
his mouth, I do not understand, for the air w^as thick 
with gritty dirt. The horses were frantic, of course, 
whirling around each other, rearing and pulling, in 
their efforts to get free. 

We must have stayed in about the same place 
twenty minutes or longer, when, just for one instant, 
there was a lull in the storm, and I caught a glimpse 
of the white pickets of a fence ! Without stopping to 
think of horse's hoofs and, alas ! without calling one 
word to the two officers who were doing everything 
possible to protect me, I shut my eyes tight, freed my 
foot from the stirrup, and, sliding down from my horse, 
started for those pickets ! How I missed Lieutenant 
Alden's horse, and how I got to that fence, I do not 
know. The force of the wind was terrific, and be- 
sides, I was obliged to cross the little accquia. But I 
did get over the fifteen or sixteen feet of ground with- 
out falling, and oh, the joy of getting my arms around 
those pickets ! 

The storm continued for some time ; but finally the 
atmosphere began to clear, and I could see objects 
around me. And then out of the dust loomed up 
Lieutenant Baldwin. He was about halfway down the 
line and riding close to the fence, evidently looking 
for me. When he came up, leading my horse, his 
face was black with more than dirt. He reminded me 
of having told me positively not to jump from my 
horse, and asked if 1 realized that I might have been 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 33 

knocked down and killed by the crazy animals. Of 
course I had perceived all that as soon as I reached 
safety, but I could not admit my mistake at that time 
without breaking down and making a scene. I was 
nervous and exhausted, and in no condition to be 
scolded by anyone, so I said : " If you were not an old 
bachelor you would have known better than to have 
told a woman not to do a thing — you would have 
known that, in all probability, that would be the very 
thing she would do first! " That mollified him a little, 
but we did not laugh — life had just been too serious 
for that. 

The chaplain had joined us, and so had Lieutenant 
Alden. The fence I had run to was the chaplain's, and 
when the good man saw us he came out and assisted 
me to his house, where I received the kindest care 
from Mrs. Lawton. I knew that Faye would be 
greatly worried about me, so as soon as I had 
rested a little — enough to walk — and had got some 
of the dust out of my eyes, the chaplain and I hur- 
ried down to our house to let him know that I was 
safe. 

At every house along the line the heavy shutters 
were closed, and not one living thing was to be seen, 
and the post looked as though it might have been 
long abandoned. There was a peculiar light, too, that 
made the most familiar objects seem strange. Yes, 
we saw a squad of enlisted men across the parade 
ground, trying with immense ropes to get back in 
place the heavy roof of the long commissary building 
which had been partly blown off. 

We met Faye at our gate, just starting out to look 
for us. He said that when the storm first came up 



34 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

he was frightened about me, but when the broad 
adobe house began to rock he came to the conclusion 
that I was about as safe out on the plains as I would 
be in a house, particularly as I was on a good horse, 
and with two splendid horsemen who would take the 
very best care of me. My plait of hair was one mass 
of dirt and was cut and torn, and is still in a deplor- 
able condition, and my face looks as though I had just 
recovered from smallpox. As it was Monday, the 
washing of almost every family was out on lines, 
about every article of which has gone to regions un- 
known. The few pieces that were caught by the high 
fences were torn to shreds. 



Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
Januar)', 1872. 

OUR little party was a grand success, but I am still 
wondering how it came about that Mrs. Barker 
and I gave it together, for, although we are all in 
the same company and next-door neighbors, we have 
seen very little of each other. She is very quiet, and 
seldom goes out, even for a walk. It was an easy 
matter to arrange things so the two houses could, in 
a way, be connected, as they are under the same long 
roof, and the porches divided by a railing only, that 
was removed for the one evening. The dancing was 
in our house, and the supper was served at the Bar- 
kers'. And that supper was a marvel of culinary art, I 
assure you, even if it was a fraud in one or two things. 
We were complimented quite graciously by some of 
the older housekeepers, who pride themselves upon 
knowing how to make more delicious little dishes out 
of nothing than anyone else. But this time it was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 35 

North and South combined, for you will remember 
that Mrs. Barker is from Virginia. 

The chicken salad — and it was delicious — was made 
of tender veal, but the celery in it was the genuine 
article, for we sent to Kansas City for that and a few 
other things. The turkey galantine was perfect, and 
the product of a resourceful brain from the North, and 
was composed almost entirely of wild goose! There 
was no April fool about the delicate Maryland bis- 
cuits, however, and other nice things that were set 
forth. We fixed up cozily the back part of our hall 
with comfortable chairs and cushions, and there punch 
was served during the evening. Major Barker and 
Faye made the punch. The orchestra might have 
been better, but the two violins and the accordion 
gave us music that was inspiring, and giive us noise, 
too, and then Doos, who played the accordion, kept 
us merry by the ever-pounding down of one govern- 
ment-shod foot. 

Everyone in the garrison came — even the chaplain 
was here during the supper. The officers were in 
full-dress uniform, and the only man in plain evening 
dress was Mr. Dunn, the post trader, and ia com- 
parison to the gay uniforms of the officers he did 
look so sleek, from his shiny black hair down to the 
toes of his shiny black pumps ! Mrs. Barker and I 
received, of course, and she was very pretty in a 
pink silk gown entirely covered with white net, that 
was caught up at many places by artificial pink roses. 
The color was most becoming, and made very pro- 
nounced the rich tint of her dark skin and her big 
black eyes. 

Well, we danced before supper and we danced after 



36 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

supper, and when we were beginning to feci just a 
wee bit tired, there suddenly appeared in our midst a 
colored woman — a real old-time black mammy — in a 
dress of faded, old-fashioned plaids, with kerchief, 
white apron, and a red-and-yellow turban tied around 
her head. We were dancing at the time she came in, 
but everyone stopped at once, completely lost in amaze- 
ment, and she had the floor to herself. This was what 
she wanted, and she immediately commenced to dance 
wildly and furiously, as though she was possessed, 
rolling her big eyes and laughing to show the white 
teeth. Gradually she quieted down to a smooth, rhyth- 
mic motion, slowly swaying from side to side, some- 
times whirling around, but with feet always flat on 
the floor, often turning on her heels. All the time her 
arms were extended and her fingers snapping, and 
snapping also were the black eyes. She was the per- 
sonification of grace, but the dance was weird — made 
the more so by the setting of bright evening dresses 
and glittering uniforms. One never sees a dance of 
this sort these days, even in the South, any more than 
one sees the bright-colored turban. Both have passed 
with the old-time darky. 

Of course we recognized Mrs. Barker, more because 
there was no one else in our small community who 
could personify a darky so perfectly, than because 
there was any resemblance to her in looks or gesture. 
The make-up was artistic, and how she managed the 
quick transformation from ball dress to that of the 
plantation, with all its black paint and rouge, Mrs. 
Barker alone knows, and where on this earth she got 
that dress and turban, she alone knows. But I im- 
agine she sent to Virginia for the whole costume. At 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 37 

all events, it was very bright in her to think of this 
unusual divertissement for our guests when dancing 
was beginning to lag a little. The dance she must 
have learned from a manimy when a child. I forgot 
to say that during the time she was dancing our fine 
orchestra played old Southern melodies. And all this 
was arranged and done by the quietest woman in the 
garrison ! 

Our house was upset from one end to the other 
to make room for the dancing, but the putting of 
things in order again did not take long, as the house 
has so very little in it. Still, I always feel rebellious 
when anything comes up to interfere with my rides, 
no matter how pleasant it may be. There have been 
a great many antelope near the post of late, and we 
have been on ever so many hunts for them. The 
greyhounds have not been with us, however, for fol- 
lowing the hounds when chasing those fleet animals 
not only requires the fastest kind of a horse and very 
good riding, but is exceedingly dangerous to both 
horse and rider because of the many prairie-dog holes, 
which are terrible death traps. And besides, the dogs 
invariably get their feet full of cactus needles, which 
cause much suffering for days. 

So we have been flagging the antelope, that is, tak- 
ing a shameful advantage of their wonderful curi- 
osity, and enticing them within rifle range. On these 
hunts I usually hold the horses of the three officers 
and my own, and so far they have not given me much 
trouble, for each one is a troop-trained animal. 

The antelope are shy and wary little creatures, and 
possess an abnormal sense of smell that makes it abso- 
lutely necessary for hunters to move cautiously to 
4 



38 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



leeward the instant they discover them. It is always 
an easy matter to find a little hill that will partly 
screen them — the country is so rolling — as they creep 
and crawl to position, ever mindful of the dreadful 
cactus. When they reach the highest point the flag 
is put up, and this is usually made on the spot, of a 
red silk handkerchief, one corner run through the ram- 



' \,^_553^i^}-- -j-'^'i; 




"Off the whok- band will slrcak." 



mer of a Springfield rifle. Then everyone lies down 
flat on the ground, resting on his elbows, with rifle in 
position for firing. 

Antelope always graze against the wind, and even 
a novice can tell when they discover the flag, for they 
instantly stop feeding, and the entire band will whirl 
around to face it, with big round ears standing straight 
up, and in this way they will remain a second or 
two, constantly sniffing the air. Failing to discover 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 39 

anything dangerous, they will take a few steps for- 
ward, perhaps run around a little, giving quick toss- 
ings of the head, and sniffing with almost every breath, 
but whatever they do the stop is always in the same 
position — facing the flag, the strange object they 
cannot understand. Often they will approach very 
slowly, making frequent halts after little runs, and 
give many tossings of the head as if they were actually 
coquetting with death itself! Waiting for them to 
come within range of the rifle requires great patience, 
for the approach is always more or less slow, and fre- 
quently just as they are at the right distance and the 
finger is on the trigger, oflf the whole band will streak, 
looking like horizontal bars of brown and white ! I 
am always so glad when they do this, for it seems so 
wicked to kill such graceful creatures. It is very sel- 
dom that I watch the approach, but when I do hap- 
pen to see them come up, the temptation to do some- 
thing to frighten them away from those murderous 
guns is almost irresistible. 

But never once are they killed for mere pleasure ! 
Their meat is tender and most delicious after one has 
learned to like the " gamey " flavor. And a change 
in meat we certainly do need here, for unless we can 
have buffalo or antelope now and then, it is beef every 
day in the month — not only one month, but every 
month. 

The prairie-dog holes are great obstacles to follow- 
ing hounds on the plains, for while running so fast 
it is impossible for a horse to see the holes in time to 
avoid them, and if a foot slips down in one it means 
a broken leg for the horse and a hard throw for the 
rider, and perhaps broken bones also. Following 



40 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

these English greyhounds — which have such wonder- 
ful speed and keenness of sight — after big game on 
vast plains, is very different from running after the 
slow hounds and foxes in the East, and requires a very 
much faster horse and quite superior riding. One has 
to learn to ride a horse — to get a perfect balance that 
makes it a matter of indifference which way the horse 
may jump, at any speed — in fact, one must become a 
part of one's mount before these hunts can be at- 
tempted. 

Chasing wolves and rabbits is not as dangerous, for 
they cannot begin to run as fast as antelope. And it 
is great fun to chase the big jack-rabbits. They know 
their own speed perfectly and have great confidence 
in it. When the hounds start one he will give one or 
two jumps high up in the air to take a look at things, 
and then he commences to run with great bounds, 
with his enormously long ears straight up like sails 
on a boat, and almost challenges the dogs to follow. 
But the poor hunted thing soon finds out that he must 
do better than that if he wishes to keep ahead, so down 
go the ears, flat along his back, and stretching himself 
out very straight, goes his very fastest, and then the 
real chase is on. 

But Mr. Jack-Rabbit is cunning, and when he sees 
that the long-legged dogs are steadily gaining upon 
him and getting closer with every jump, he will in- 
variably make a quick turn and run back on his own 
tracks, often going right underneath the fast-running 
dogs that cannot stop themselves, and can only give 
vicious snaps as they jump over him. Their stride — 
often fifteen and twenty feet — covers so much more 
ground than the rabbit's, it is impossible for them to 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



41 




"The long-legged dogs are steadily gaining upon him." 

make as quick turns, therefore it is generally the slow 
dog of the pack that catches the rabbit. And fre- 
quently a wise old rabbit will make many turns and 
finally reach a hole in safety. 

The tail of a greyhound is his rudder and his brake, 
and the sight is most laughable when a whole pack of 
them are trying to stop, each tail whirling around like 
a Dutch windmill. Sometimes, in their frantic efforts 
to stop quickly, they will turn complete somersaults 
and roll over in a cloud of dust and dirt. But give 
up they never do, and once on their feet they start 
back after that rabbit with whines of disappointment 
and rage. Many, many times, also, I have heard the 
dogs howl and whine from the pain caused by the 



42 ARMY LETTERS EROM 

cactus spines in their feet, but not once have I ever 
seen any one of them lag in the chase. 

But the pack here is a notoriously fine one. The 
leader, Magic, is a splendid dog, dark brindle in 
color, very swift and very plucky, also most intelli- 
gent. He is a sly rascal, too. He loves to sleep on 
Lieutenant Baldwin's bed above all things, and he 
sneaks up on it whenever he can, but the instant he 
hears Lieutenant Baldwin's step on the walk outside, 
down he jumps, and stretching himself out full length 
in front of the fire, he shuts his eyes tight, pretends 
to be fast asleep, and the personification of an inno- 
cent, well-behaved dog! But Lieutenant Baldwin 
knows his tricks now, and sometimes, going to the bed, 
he can feel the warmth from his body that is still there, 
and if he says, " Magic, you old villain," Magic will 
wag his tail a little, which in dog language means, 
" You are pretty smart, but Em smart, too! " 

With all this outdoor exercise, one can readily per- 
ceive that the days are not long and tiresome. Of 
course there are a few who yawn and complain of 
the monotony of frontier life, but these are the stay- 
at-homes who sit by their own fires day after day and 
let cobwebs gather in brain and lungs. And these, too, 
are the ones who have time to discover so many faults 
in others, and become our garrison gossips! If they 
would take brisk rides on spirited horses in this won- 
derful air, and learn to shoot all sorts of guns in all 
sorts of positions, they would soon discover that a 
frontier post can furnish plenty of excitement. At 
least, I have found that it can. 

Faye was very anxious for me to become a good 
shot, considering it most essential in this Indian coun- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



43 



try, and to please him I commenced practicing soon 
after we got here. It was hard work at first, and I 
had many a bad headache from the noise of the guns. 
It was all done in a systematic way, too, as though 
I was a soldier at target practice. They taught me 
to use a pistol in various positions while standing; 
then I learned to use it from the saddle. After that 
a little four-inch bull's-eye was often tacked to a tree 
seventy-five paces away, and I was given a Spencer 
carbine to shoot (a short magazine rifle used by the 
cavalry), and many a time I have fired three rounds, 
twenty-one shots in all, at the bull's-eye, which I was 
expected to hit every time, too. 

Well, I obligingly furnished amusement for Faye 
and Lieutenant Baldwin until they asked me to fire a 
heavy Springfield rifle — an infantry gun. After one 
shot I politely refused to touch the thing again. The 
noise came near making me deaf for life ; the big 
thing rudely '' kicked " me over on my back, and the 
bullet — I expect that ball is still on its way to Mars 
or perhaps the moon. This earth it certainly did not 
hit ! Faye is with the company almost every morn- 
ing, but after luncheon we usually go out for two or 
three hours, and always come back refreshed by the 
exercise. And the little house looks more cozy, and 
the snapping of the blazing logs sovmds more cheerful 
because of our having been away from them. 



Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
April, 1872. 

SOME of the most dreadful things have occurred 
since I wrote you last, and this letter will make 
you unhappy, I know. To begin with, orders have 



44 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

actually come from Department Headquarters at 
Leavenworth for two companies of infantry here — 
General Phillips' and Captain Giddings' — to go to 
Camp Supply ! So that is settled, and we will probably 
leave this post in about ten days, and during that time 
we are expected to sell, give away, smash up, or burn 
about everything we possess, for we have already been 
told that very few things can be taken with us. I do 
not see how we can possibly do with less than we 
have had since we came here. 

Eliza announced at once that she could not be in- 
duced to go where there are so many Indians — said 
she had seen enough of them while in New Mexico. 
I am more than sorry to lose her, but at the same time 
I cannot help admiring her common sense. I would 
not go either if I could avoid it. 

You will remember that not long ago I said that 
Lieutenant Baldwin was urging me to ride Tom, his 
splendid thoroughbred, as soon as he could be quieted 
down a little so I could control him. Well, I was to 
have ridden him to-day for the first time ! Yesterday 
morning Lieutenant Baldwin had him out for a long, 
hard run, but even after that the horse was nervous 
when he came in, and danced sideways along the 
officers' drive in his usual graceful way. Just as they 
got opposite the chaplain's house, two big St. Bernard 
dogs bounded over the fence and landed directly under 
the horse, entangling themselves with his legs so com- 
pletely that when he tried to jump away from them 
he was thrown down on his knees with great force, 
and Lieutenant Baldwin was pitched over the horse's 
head and along the ground several feet. 

He is a tall, muscular man and went down heavily, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 45 

breaking three ribs and his collar bone on both sides ! 
He is doing very well, and is as comfortable to-day as 
can be expected, except that he is grieving piteously 
over his horse, for the poor horse — beautiful Tom — 
is utterly ruined ! Both knees have been sprung, and 
he is bandaged almost as much as his master. 

The whole occurrence is most deplorable and dis- 
tressing. It seems so dreadful that a strong man 
should be almost killed and a grand horse completely 
ruined by two clumsy, ill-mannered dogs. One be- 
longs to the chaplain, too, who is expected to set a 
model example for the rest of us. Many, many times 
during the winter I have ridden by the side of Tom, 
and had learned to love every one of his pretty ways, 
from the working of his expressive ears to the grace- 
ful movement of his slender legs. He was a horse 
for anyone to be proud of, not only for his beauty 
but as a hunter, too, and he was Lieutenant Baldwin's 
delight and joy. 

It does seem as if everything horrible had come all 
at once. The order we have been expecting, of course, 
as so many rumors have reached us that we were to 
go, but all the time there has been hidden away a little 
hope that we might be left here another year. 

I shall take the greyhound puppy, of course. He is 
with Blue, his mother, at Captain Richardson's quar- 
ters, but he is brought over every day for me to see. 
His coat is brindled, dark brown and black — just 
like Magic's — and fine as the softest satin. One foot is 
white, and there is a little white tip to his tail, which, 
it seems, is considered a mark of great beauty in a 
greyhound. We have named him Harold. 

Nothing has been done about packing yet, as the 



46 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

orders have just been received. The carpenters in the 
company will not be permitted to do one thing for us 
until the captain and first lieutenant have had made 
every box and crate they want for the move. I am 
beginning to think that it must be nice to be even a 
first lieutenant. But never mind, perhaps Faye will 
get his captaincy in twenty years or so, and then it 
will be all " fair and square." 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
May, 1872. 

EVERYTHING is packed or disposed of, and we 
are ready to start to-morrow on the long march 
to Camp Supply. Two large army wagons have been 
allowed to each company for the officers' baggage, but 
as all three officers are present with the company Faye 
is in, and the captain has taken one of the wagons for 
his own use, we can have just one half of one of those 
wagons to take our household goods to a country 
where it is absolutely impossible to purchase one 
thing! We have given away almost all of our furni- 
ture, and were glad that we had bought so little when 
we came here. Our trunks and several boxes are to 
be sent by freight to Hays City at our own expense, 
and from there down to the post by wagon, and if 
we ever see them again I will be surprised, as Camp 
Supply is about one hundred and fifty miles from the 
railroad. We are taking only one barrel of china — 
just a few pieces we considered the most necessary — 
and this morning Faye discovered that the first lieu- 
tenant had ordered that one barrel to be taken from 
the wagon to make more room for his own things. 
Faye ordered it to be put back at once, and says it 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 47 

will stay there, too, and I fancy it will ! Surely we 
are entitled to all of our one half of the wagon — sec- 
ond choice at that. 

I am to ride in an ambulance with Mrs. Phillips, her 
little son and her cook, Mrs. Barker and her small son. 
There will be seats for only four, as the middle seat 
has been taken out to make room for a comfortable 
rocking-chair that will be for Mrs. Phillips's exclusive 
use ! The dear little greyhound puppy I have to leave 
here. Faye says I must not take him with so many 
in the ambulance, as he would undoubtedly be in the 
way. But I am sure the puppy would not be as 
troublesome as one small boy, and there will be two 
small boys with us. It would be quite bad enough to 
be sent to such a terrible place as Camp Supply has 
been represented to us, without having all this misery 
and mortification added, and all because Faye happens 
to be a second lieutenant ! 

I have cried and cried over all these things until I 
am simply hideous, but I have to go just the same, 
and I have made up my mind never again to make 
myself so wholly disagreeable about a move, no matter 
where we may have to go. I happened to recall yes- 
terday what grandmother said to me when saying 
good-by : " It is a dreadful thing not to become a 
woman when one ceases to be a girl ! " I am no lon- 
ger a girl, I suppose, so I must try to be a woman, 
as there seems to be nothing in between. One can 
find a little comfort, too, in the thought that there 
is no worse place possible for us to be sent to, and 
when once there we can look forward to better things 
sometime in the future. I do not mind the move as 
much as the unpleasant experiences connected with it. 



48 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

But I shall miss the kind friends, the grand hunts 
and delightful rides, and shall long for dear old 
John, who has carried me safely so many, many 
miles. 

Lieutenant Baldwin is still ill and very depressed, 
and Doctor Wilder is becoming anxious about him. It 
is so dreadful for such a powerful man as he has been 
to be so really broken in pieces. He insists upon being 
up and around, which is bad, very bad, for the many 
broken bones. 

I will write whenever I find an opportunity. 

Old Fort Zarah, Kansas, 
April, 1872. 

OUR camp to-night is near the ruins of a very old 
fort, and ever since we got here, the men have 
been hunting rattlesnakes that have undoubtedly been 
holding possession of the tumble-down buildings, many 
snake generations. Dozens and dozens have been 
killed, of all sizes, some of them being very large. 
The old quarters were evidently made of sods and 
dirt, and must have been dreadful places to live in 
even when new. 

I must tell you at once that I have the little grey- 
hound. I simply took matters in my own hands and 
got him ! We came only five miles our first day out, 
and after the tents had been pitched that night and 
the various dinners commenced, it was discovered that 
many little things had been left behind, so Gen- 
eral Phillips decided to send an ambulance and two 
or three men back to the post for them, and to get 
the mail at the same time. It so happened that Burt, 
our own striker, was one of the men detailed to go, and 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 49 

when I heard this I at once thought of the puppy I 
wanted so much. I managed to see Burt before he 
started, and when asked if he could bring the Uttle 
dog to me he answered so heartily, " That I can, 
mum," I felt that the battle was half won, for I knew 
that if I could once get the dog in camp he would 
take care of him, even if I could not. 

Burt brought him and kept him in his tent that 
night, and the little fellow seemed to know that he 
should be good, for Burt told me that he did not whim- 
per once, notwithstanding it was his first night from 
his mother and little companions. The next morning, 
when he was brought to me, Faye's face was funny, 
and after one look of astonishment at the puppy he 
hurried out of the tent — so I could not see him laugh, 
I think. He is quite as pleased as I am, now, to have 
the dog, for he gives no trouble whatever. He is fed 
condensed milk, and I take care of him during the 
day and Burt has him at night. He is certainly much 
better behaved in the ambulance than either of the 
small boys who step upon our feet, get into fierce 
fights, and keep up a racket generally. The mothers 
have been called upon to settle so many quarrels be- 
tween their sons, that the atmosphere in the ambu- 
lance has become quite frigid. 

The day we came from the post, while I was griev- 
ing for the little greyhound and many other things 
I had not been permitted to bring with me, and the 
rocking-chair was bruising my ankles, I felt that it 
was not dignified in me to submit to the treatment I 
was being subjected to, and I decided to rebel. Mrs. 
Barker and her small son had been riding on the back 
seat, and I felt that I was as much entitled to a seat 



5° 



A R AI Y LETTERS FROM 



there as the boy, nevertheless I had been sitting on the 
seat with Mrs. PhilHps's servant and riding backward. 
This was the only place that had been left for me at 
the post that morning. After thinking it all over I 
made up my mind to take the small boy's seat, but 
just where he would sit I did not know. 

When I returned to the ambulance after the next 
rest — I was careful to get there first — I sat down on 
the back seat and made myself comfortable, but I 
must admit that my heart was giving awful thumps, 
for Mrs. Barker's sharp tongue and spitfire temper 
are well known. My head was aching because of my 
having ridden backward, and I was really cross, and 
this Mrs. Barker may have noticed, for not one word 
did she say directly to me, but she said much to her 
son — much that I might have resented had I felt in- 
clined. The small boy sat on his mother's lap and ex- 
pressed his disapproval by giving me vicious kicks 
every few minutes. 

Not one word was said the next morning wdien I 
boldly carried the puppy to that seat. Mrs. Barker 
looked at the dog, then at me, with great scorn, but 
she knew that if she said anything disagreeable Mrs. 
Phillips would side with me, so she wisely kept still. 
I think that even Faye has come to the conclusion 
that I might as well have the dog — who lies so quietly 
in my lap — now that he sees how I am sandwiched in 
with rocking-chairs, small boys, and servants. The 
men march fifty minutes and halt ten, each hour, and 
during every ten minutes' rest Harold and I take a lit- 
tle run, and this makes him ready for a nap when we 
return to the ambulance. From this place on I am 
to ride with Mrs. Cole, who has her own ambu- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 51 

lance. This will be most agreeable, and I am so de- 
lighted that she should have thought of inviting me. 

Camping out is really very nice when the weather 
is pleasant, but the long marches are tiresome for 
everybody. The ambulances and wagons are driven 
directly back of the troops, consequently the mules 
can never go faster than a slow walk, and sometimes 
the dust is enough to choke us. We have to keep 
together, for we are in an Indian country, of course. 
I feel sorry for the men, but they always march 
" rout " step and seem to have a good time, for we 
often hear them laughing and joking with each other. 

We are following the Arkansas River, and so far 
the scenery has been monotonous — just the same roll- 
ing plains day after day. Leaving our first army 
home was distressing, and I doubt if other homes 
and other friends will ever be quite the same to me. 
Lieutenant Baldwin was assisted to the porch by his 
faithful Mexican boy, so he could see us start, and 
he looked white and pitifully helpless, with both arms 
bandaged tight to his sides. One of those dreadful 
dogs is in camp and going to Camp Supply with us, 
and is as frisky as though he had done something to 
be proud of. 

This cannot be posted until we reach Fort Dodge, 
but I intend to write to you again while there, of 
course, if I have an opportunity. 



Fort Dodge, Kansas, 
May, 1872. 

IT was nearly two o'clock yesterday when we ar- 
rived at this post, and we go on again to-day 
about eleven. The length of all marches has to be 



52 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

regulated by water and wood, and as the first stream 
on the road to Camp Supply is at Bluff Creek, only ten 
miles from here, there was no necessity for an early 
start. This gives us an opportunity to get fresh sup- 
plies for our mess chests, and to dry things also. 

There was a terrific rain and electric storm last 
evening, and this morning we present anything but a 
military appearance, for around each tent is a fine 
array of bedding and clothing hung out to dry. Our 
camp is at the foot of a hill a short distance back of 
the post, and during the storm the water rushed down 
with such force that it seemed as though we were in 
danger of being carried on to the Arkansas River. 

We had just returned from a delightful dinner with 
Major and Mrs. Tilden, of the cavalry, and Faye had 
gone out to mount the guard for the night, when, 
without a moment's warning, the storm burst upon 
us. The lightning was fierce, and the white canvas 
made it appear even worse than it really was, for at 
each flash the walls of the tent seemed to be on fire. 
There was no dark closet for me to run into this time, 
but there was a bed, and on that I got, taking the little 
dog with me for company and to get him out of the 
wet. He seemed very restless and constantly gave 
little whines, and at the time I thought it was because 
he, too, was afraid of the storm. The water was soon 
two and three inches deep on the ground under the 
tent, rushing along like a mill race, giving little gur- 
gles as it went through the grass and against the 
tent pins. The roar of the rain on the tent was 
deafening. 

The guard is always mounted with the long steel 
bayonets on the rifles, and I knew that Faye had on 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 53 

his sword, and remembering these things made me al- 
most scream at each wicked flash of hghtning, fear- 
ing that he and the men had been killed. But he came 
to the tent on a hard run, and giving me a long water- 
proof coat to wrap myself in, gathered me in his arms 
and started for Mrs. Tilden's, where I had been urged 
to remain overnight. When we reached a narrow 
board walk that was supposed to run along by her 
side fence, Faye stood me down upon it, and I 
started to do some running on my own account. Be- 
fore I had taken two steps, however, down went the 
walk and down I went in water almost to my knees, 
and then splash — down went the greyhound puppy ! 
Up to that instant I had not been conscious of having 
the little dog with me, and in all that rain and water 
Faye had been carrying me and a fat puppy also. 

The walk had been moved by the rushing water, 
and was floating, which we had no way of knowing, of 
course. I dragged the dog out of the water, and we 
finally reached the house, where we received a true 
army welcome — a dry one, too — and there I remained 
until after breakfast this morning. But sleep during 
the night I did not, for until long after midnight I 
sat in front of a blazing fire holding a very sick 
puppy. Hal was desperately ill and we all expected 
him to die at any moment, and I was doubly sorrow- 
ful, because I had been the innocent cause of it. Ever 
since I have had him he has been fed condensed milk 
only — perhaps a little bread now and then; so when 
we got here I sent for some fresh milk, to give him 
a treat. He drank of it greedily and seemed to enjoy 
it so much, that I let him have all he wanted during the 

afternoon. And it was the effect of the milk that 
5 



54 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

made him whine during the storm, and not because 
he was afraid of the hghtning. He would have died, 
I do believe, had it not been for the kindness of Major 
Tilden who knows all about greyhounds. They are 
very delicate and most difficult to raise. The little 
dog is a limp bunch of brindled satin this morning, 
wrapped in flannel, but we hope he will soon be well. 

A third company joined us here and will go on to 
Camp Supply. Major Hunt, the captain, has his 
wife and three children with him, and they seem to be 
cultured and very charming people. Mrs. Hunt this 
moment brought a plate of delicious spice cake for 
our luncheon. There is a first lieutenant with the 
company, but he is not married. 

There is only one mail from here each week, so of 
course there will be only one from Camp Supply, as 
that mail is brought here and then carried up to the 
railroad with the Dodge mail. It is almost time for the 
tents to be struck, and I must be getting ready for the 
march. 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
May, 1872. 

THIS place is quite as dreadful as it has been rep- 
resented to us. There are more troops here 
than at Fort Lyon, and of course the post is very 
much larger. There are two troops of colored cavalry, 
one of white cavalry, and three companies of infantry. 
The infantry companies that have been stationed here, 
and which our three companies have come to relieve, 
will start in the morning for their new station, and 
will use the transportation that brought us down. Con- 
sequently, it was necessary to unload all the things 
from our wagons early this morning, so they could be 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 55 

turned over to the outgoing troops. I am a little 
curious to know if there is a second lieutenant who 
will be so unfortunate as to be allowed only one half 
of a wagon in which to carry his household goods. 

Their going will leave vacant a number of officers' 
quarters, therefore there will be no selection of quar- 
ters by our officers until to-morrow. Faye is next to 
the junior, so there will be very little left to select 
from by the time his turn comes. The quarters are 
really nothing more than huts built of vertical logs 
plastered in between with mud, and the roofs are of 
poles and mud ! Many of the rooms have only sand 
floors. We dined last evening with Captain and Mrs, 
Vincent, of the cavalry, and were amazed to find that 
such wretched buildings could be made so attractive 
inside. But of course they have one of the very best 
houses on the line, and as company commander, Cap- 
tain Vincent can have done about what he wants. And 
then, again, they are but recently married, and all 
their furnishings are new and handsome. There is 
one advantage in being with colored troops — one can 
always have good servants. Mrs. Vincent has an ex- 
cellent colored soldier cook, and her butler was thor- 
oughly trained as such before he enlisted. It did look 
so funny, however, to see such a black man in a blue 
uniform. 

The march down from Fort Dodge was most un- 
comfortable the first two days. It poured and poured 
rain, and then poured more rain, until finally every- 
body and everything was soaked through. I felt so 
sorry for the men who had to march in the sticky mud. 
Their shoes filled fast with water, and they were com- 
pelled constantly to stop, take them off, and pour out 



56 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



the water. It cleared at last and the sun shone warm 
and bright, and then there was another exhibition in 
camp one afternoon, of clothing and bedding drying 
on guy ropes. 

All the way down I was on the lookout for Indi- 
ans, and was laughed at many a time for doing so, 
too. Every time something unusual was seen in the 







"Two soldiers 



shot in the back." 



distance some bright person would immediately ex- 
claim, " Oh, that is only one of Mrs. Rae's Indi- 
ans ! " I said very little about what I saw during the 
last day or two, for I felt that the constant teasing 
must have become as wearisome to the others as it 
had to me. But I am still positive that I saw the 
black heads of Indians on the top of ever so many 
hills we passed. When they wish to see and not be 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 57 

seen they crawl up a hill on the side farthest from 
you, but only far enough up to enable them to look 
over, and in this position they will remain for hours, 
perfectly motionless, watching your every movement. 
Unless you notice the hill very carefully you will 
never see the black dot on top, for only the eyes and 
upper part of the head are exposed. I had been told 
all this many times ; also, that when in an Indian 
country to be most watchful when Indians are not 
to be seen. 

Camp Supply is certainly in an Indian country, for 
it is surrounded by Comanches, Apaches, Kiowas, 
Cheyennes, and Arapahoes — each a hostile tribe, except 
the last. No one can go a rod from the garrison with- 
out an escort, and our weekly mail is brought down in 
a wagon and guarded by a corporal and several pri- 
vates. Only last week two couriers — soldiers — who 
had been sent down with dispatches from Fort Dodge, 
were found dead on the road, both shot in the back, 
probably without having been given one chance to 
defend themselves. 

We are in camp on low land just outside the post, 
and last night we were almost washed away again by 
the down-pouring rain, and this morning there is mud 
everywhere. And this is the country that is supposed 
never to have rain ! Mrs. Vincent invited me most cor- 
dially to come to her house until we at least knew 
what quarters we were to have, and Captain Vincent 
came early to-day to insist upon my going up at once, 
but I really could not go. We have been in rain and 
mud so long I feel that I am in no way fit to go to 
anyone's house. Besides, it would seem selfish in me 
to desert Faye, and he, of course, would not leave 



58 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

the company as long as it is in tents. We are de- 
lighted at finding such charming people as the Vincents 
at this horrid place. 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
June, 1872. 

WE are in our own house now and almost settled. 
When one has only a few pieces of furniture it 
does not take long to get them in place. It is impos- 
sible to make the rooms look homelike, and I often 
find myself wondering where in this world I have 
wandered to ! The house is of logs, of course, and 
has a pole and dirt roof, and was built originally 
for an officers' mess. The dining room is large and 
very long, a part of which we have partitioned off 
with a piece of canvas and converted into a storeroom. 
We had almost to get down on our knees to the quar- 
termaster before he would give us the canvas. He 
is in the quartermaster's department and is most 
arrogant ; seems to think that every nail and tack is 
his own personal property and for his exclusive use. 

Our dining room has a sand floor, and almost every 
night little white toadstools grow up all along the base 
of the log walls. All of the logs are of cottonwood 
and have the bark on, and the army of bugs that hide 
imderncath the bark during the day and march upon 
us at night is to be dreaded about as much as a whole 
tribe of Indians ! 

I wrote you how everyone laughed at me on the 
march down because I was positive I saw heads of 
Indians on the sand hills so many times. Well, all 
that has ceased, and the mention of " Mrs. Rae's 
Indians " is carefully avoided ! There has been sad 
proof that the Indians were there, also that they were 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



59 




"Watching us closely." 



watching us closely and kept near us all the way down 
from Fort Dodge, hoping for a favorable opportunity 
to steal the animals. The battalion of the — th Infantry 
had made only two days' march from here, and the 
herders had just turned the horses and mules out to 
graze, when a band of Cheyenne Indians swooped 
down upon them and stampeded every animal, leav- 
ing the companies without even one mule ! The poor 
things are still in camp on the prairie, waiting for 
something, anything, to move them on. General Phillips 
is mightily pleased that the Indians did not succeed in 
getting the animals from his command, and I am 
pleased that they cannot tease me any more. 

My ride with Lieutenant Golden, Faye's classmate, 
this morning was very exciting for a time. We started 
directly after stable call, which is at six o'clock. 
Lieutenant Golden rode Dandy, his beautiful thor- 
oughbred, that reminds me so much of Lieutenant 
Baldwin's Tom, and I rode a troop horse that had 



6o ARMY LETTERS FROM 

never been ridden by a woman before. As soon as he 
was led up I noticed that there was much white to be 
seen in his eyes, and that he was restless and ever 
pawing the ground. But the orderly said he was not 
vicious, and he was sure I could ride him. He did not 
object in the least to my skirt, and we started off in 
fine style, but before we reached the end of the line he 
gave two or three pulls at the bit, and then bolted ! 
My arms are remarkably strong, but they were like a 
child's against that hard mouth. He turned the cor- 
ner sharply and carried me along back of the laun- 
dress' quarters, where there was a perfect network of 
clothes lines, and where I fully expected to be swept 
from the saddle. But I managed to avoid them by 
putting my head down close to the horse's neck, In- 
dian fashion. He was not a very large horse, and 
lowered himself, of course, by his terrific pace. He 
went like the wind, on and up the hill in front of the 
guard house. There a sentry was walking post, and 
on his big infantry rifle was a long bayonet, and the 
poor man, in his desire to do something for me, ran 
forward and held the gun horizontally right in front 
of my horse, which caused him to give a fearful 
lunge to the right and down the hill. How I man- 
aged to keep my seat I do not know, and neither do 
I know how that mad horse kept right side up on 
that down jump. But it did not seem to disturb him 
in the least, for he never slackened his speed, and 
on we went toward the stables, where the cavalry 
horses were tied to long picket ropes, and close to- 
gether, getting their morning grooming. 

All this time Lieutenant Golden had not attempted 
to overtake me, fearing that by doing so he might 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 6i 

make matters worse, but when he saw that the horse 
was running straight for his place on the Hne, he 
pushed forward, and grasping my bridle rein, almost 
pulled the horse on his haunches. He said later that 
I might have been kicked to death by the troop horses 
if I had been rushed in among them. We went on 
to the stables, Lieutenant Golden leading my horse, and 
you can fancy how mortified I was over that perform- 
ance, and it was really unnecessary, too. Lieutenant 
Golden, also the sergeant, advised me to dismount and 
try another horse, but I said no! I would ride that 
one if I could have a severer bit and my saddle girths 
tightened. Dismount before Lieutenant Golden, a 
cavalry officer and Faye's classmate, and all those 
staring troopers — I, the wife of an infantry officer? 
Never! It was my first experience with a runaway 
horse, but I had kept a firm seat all the time — there 
was some consolation in that thought. 

Well, to my great relief and comfort, it was dis- 
covered that the chin chain that is on all cavalry bits 
had been left ofif, and this had made the curb simply a 
straight bit and wholly ineffective. The sergeant 
fastened the chain on and it was made tight, too, and 
he tightened the girths and saw that everything was 
right, and then Lieutenant Golden and I started on our 
ride the second time. I expected trouble, as the horse 
was then leaving his stable and companions, but when 
he commenced to back and shake his head I let him 
know that I held a nice stinging whip, and that soon 
stopped the balking. We had to pass three long picket 
lines of horses and almost two hundred troopers, 
every one of whom stared at me with both eyes. It 
was embarrassing, of course, but I was glad to let the 



62 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



whole line of them see that I was capable of managing 
my own horse, which was still very frisky. I knew 
very well, too, that the sergeant's angry roar when he 
asked, " Who bridled this horse? " had been heard by 
many of them. Our ride was very delightful after 
all its exciting beginning, and we are going again to- 




"A band of Cheyenne Indians swooped down upon them." 



morrow morning. I want to let those troopers see that 
I am not afraid to ride the horse they selected for me. 
I shall be so glad when Hal is large enough to go 
with me. He is growing fast, but at present seems 
to be mostly legs. He is devoted to me, but I regret 
to say that he and our old soldier cook are not the dear- 
est friends. Findlay is so stupid he cannot appreciate 
the cunning things the little dog does. Hal is fed 
mush and milk only until he gets his second teeth, and 
consequently he is wild about meat. The odor of a 
broiling beefsteak the other day was more than he 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 63 

could resist, so he managed to get his freedom by 
slipping his collar over his head, and rushing into the 
kitchen, snatched the sizzling steak and was out again 
before Findlay could collect his few wits, and get 
across the room to stop him. The meat was so hot 
it burned his mouth, and he howled from the pain, but 
drop it he did not until he was far from the cook. 
This I consider very plucky in so young a dog ! Find- 
lay ran after the little hound, yelling and swearing, 
and I ran after Findlay to keep him from beating my 
dog. Of course we did not have beefsteak that day, 
but, as I told Faye, it was entirely Findlay's fault. 
He should have kept watch of things, and not made 
it possible for Hal to kill himself by eating a whole 
big steak! 

Yesterday, Lieutenant Golden came in to luncheon, 
and when we went in the dining room I saw at once 
that things were wrong, very wrong. A polished table 
is an unknown luxury down here, but fresh table linen 
we do endeavor to have. But the cloth on the table 
yesterday was a sight to behold, with big spots of dirt 
all along one side and dirt on top. Findlay came in the 
room just as I reached the table, and I said, " Findlay, 
what has happened here ? " He gave one look at the 
cloth where I pointed, and then striking his knuckles 
together, almost sobbed out, " Dot tamn dog, mum ! " 
Faye and Lieutenant Golden quickly left the room 
to avoid hearing any more remarks of that kind, for 
it was really very dreadful in Findlay to use such 
language. This left me alone, of course, to pacify the 
cook, which I found no easy task. Old Findlay had 
pickled a choice buffalo tongue with much care and 
secrecy, and had served it for luncheon yesterday as 



64 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

a great surprise and treat. There was the platter on 
the table, but there could be no doubt of its having 
been licked clean. Not one tiny piece of tongue could 
be seen any place. 

The window was far up, and in vain did I try to 
convince everyone that a strange dog had come in 
and stolen the meat, that Hal was quite too small to 
have reached so far ; but Findlay only looked cross 
and Faye looked hungry, so I gave that up. Before 
night, however, there was trouble and a very sick 
puppy in the house, and once again I thought he would 
die. And every few minutes that disagreeable old 
cook would come in and ask about the dog, and say 
he was afraid he could not get well — always with a 
grin on Lis face that was exasperating. Finally, I 
told him that if he had served only part of the tongue, 
as he should have done, the dog would not have been 
so ill, and we could have had some of it. That settled 
the matter — he did not come in again. Findlay has 
served several enlistments, and is regarded as an old 
soldier, and once upon a time he was cook for the 
colonel of the regiment, therefore he sometimes for- 
gets himself and becomes aggressive. I do not won- 
der that Hal dislikes him. 

And Hal dislikes Indians, too, and will often hear 
their low mumbling and give little growls before I 
dream that one is near. They have a disagreeable 
way of coming to the windows and staring in. Some- 
times before you have heard a sound you will be con- 
scious of an uncomfortable feeling, and looking 
around you will discover five or six Indians, large 
and small, peering at you through the windows, each 
ugly nose pressed flat against the glass ! It is enough 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 65 

to drive one mad. You never know when they are 
about, their tread is so steahhy with their moccasined 
feet. 

Faye is officer of the guard every third day now. 
This sounds rather nice ; but it means that every third 
day and night — exactly twenty-four hours — he has to 
spend at the guard house, excepting when making the 
rounds, that is, visiting sentries on post, and is per- 
mitted to come to the house just long enough to eat 
three hurried meals. This is doing duty, and would be 
all right if there were not a daily mingling of white 
and colored troops which often brings a colored ser- 
geant over a white corporal and privates. But the 
most unpleasant part for the officer of the guard is 
that the partition in between the officer's room and 
guard room is of logs, unchinked, and very open, and 
the weather is very hot ! and the bugs, which keep us 
all in perpetual warfare in our houses, have full sway 
there, going from one room to the other. 

The officers say that the negroes make good sol- 
diers and fight like fiends. They certainly manage to 
stick on their horses like monkeys. The Indians call 
them " buffalo soldiers," because their woolly heads 
are so much like the matted cushion that is between 
the horns of the buffalo. We had letters from dear 
old Fort Lyon yesterday, and the news about Lieuten- 
ant Baldwin is not encouraging. He is not improving 
and Doctor W^ilder is most anxious about him. But a 
man as big and strong as he was must certainly get 
well in time. 



66 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
June, 1872. 

IT seems as if I had to write constantly of unpleas- 
ant occurrences, but what else can I do since un- 
pleasant occurrences are ever coming along? This 
time I must tell you that Faye has been turned out 
of quarters — " ranked out," as it is spoken of in the 
Army. But it all amounts to the same thing, and 
means that we have been driven out of our house and 
home, bag and baggage, because a captain wanted that 
one set of quarters ! Call it what one chooses, the ex- 
perience was not pleasant and will be long remem- 
bered. Being turned out was bad enough in itself, 
but the manner in which it was done was humiliating 
in the extreme. We had been in the house only three 
weeks and had worked so hard during that time to 
make it at all comfortable. Findlay wanted to tear 
down the canvas partition in the dining room when 
we left the house, and I was sorry later on that I 
had not consented to his doing so. 

One morning at ten o'clock I received a note from 
Faye, written at the guard house, saying that his set 
of quarters had been selected by a cavalry officer who 
had just arrived at the post, and that every article of 
ours must be out of the house that day by one o'clock ! 
Also that, as he was officer of the guard, it would be 
impossible for him to assist me in the least, except 
to send some enlisted men to move the things. At 
first I was dazed and wholly incapable of compre- 
hending the situation — it seemed so preposterous to 
expect anyone to move everything out of a house in 
three hours. But as soon as I recovered my senses 
I saw at once that not one second of the precious time 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 67 

must be wasted, and that the superintendence of the 
whole thing had fallen upon me. 

So I gathered my forces, and the four men started 
to work in a way that showed they would do every- 
thing in their power to help me. All that was possible 
for us to do, however, was almost to throw things out 
in a side yard, for remember, please, we had only 
three short hours in which to move everything — 
and this without warning or preparation of any kind. 
All things, big and small, were out by one o'clock, 
and just in time, too, to avoid a collision with the 
colored soldiers of the incoming cavalry officer, who 
commenced taking furniture and boxes in the house 
at precisely that hour. 

Of course there was no hotel or even restaurant for 
me to go to, and I was too proud and too indignant 
to beg shelter in the house of a friend — in fact, I felt 
as if I had no friend. So I sat down on a chair in 
the yard with the little dog by me, thinking, I re- 
member, that the chair was our own property and no 
one had a right to object to my being there. And 
I also remember that the whole miserable affair 
brought to mind most vividly scenes of eviction that 
had been illustrated in the papers from time to time, 
when poor women had been evicted for nonpayment 
of rent! 

Just as I had reached the very lowest depths of 
misery and woCj Mrs. Vincent appeared, and Faye al- 
most immediately after. We three went to Mrs. 
Vincent's house for luncheon, and in fact I remained 
there until we came to this house. She had just heard 
of what had happened and hastened down to me. 
Captain \^incent said it was entirely the fault of the 



68 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

commanding officer for permitting such a disgraceful 
order to leave his office ; that Captain Park's family 
could have remained one night longer in tents here, 
as they had been in camp every night on the road 
from Fort Sill. 

There came a ludicrous turn to all this unpleasant- 
ness, for, by the ranking out of one junior second lieu- 
tenant, six or more captains and first lieutenants had 
to move. It was great fun the next day to see the 
moving up and down the officers' line of all sorts of 
household goods, for it showed that a poor second 
lieutenant was of some importance after all ! 

But I am getting on too fast. Faye, of course, 
was entitled to two rooms, some place in the post, 
but it seems that the only quarters he could take were 
those occupied by Lieutenant Cole, so Faye decided 
at once to go into tents himself, in preference to 
compelling Lieutenant Cole to do so. Now it so hap- 
pened that the inspector general of the department was 
in the garrison, and as soon as he learned the con- 
dition of affairs, he ordered the post quartermaster 
to double two sets of quarters — that is, make four sets 
out of two — and designated the quartermaster's own 
house for one of the two. But Major Knox divided 
off two rooms that no one could possibly occupy, 
and in consequence has still all of his large house. 
But the other large set that was doubled was 
occupied by a senior captain, who, when his quarters 
were reduced in size, claimed a new choice, and so, 
turning another captain out, the ranking out went on 
down to a second lieutenant. But no one took our old 
house from Captain Park, much to my disappoint- 
ment, and he still has it. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 69 

The house that we are in now is built of cedar logs, 
and was the commanding officer's house at one time. 
It has a long hall running through the center, and 
on the left side Major Hunt and his family have the 
four rooms, and we have the two on the right. Our 
kitchen is across the yard, and was a chicken house 
not so very long ago. It has no floor, of course, so 
we had loads of dirt dug out and all filled in again 
with clean white sand, and now, after the log walls 
have been scraped and whitened, and a number of 
new shelves put up, it is really quite nice. Our sleep- 
ing room has no canvas on the walls inside, and much 
of the chinking has fallen out, leaving big holes, 
and I never have a light in that room after dark, fear- 
ing that Indians might shoot me through those holes. 
They are skulking about the post all the time. 

We have another cook now — a soldier of course — 
and one that is rather inexperienced. General Phillips 
ordered Findlay back to the company, saying he was 
much needed there, but he was company cook just one 
day when he was transferred to the general's own 
kitchen. Comment is unnecessary ! But it is all for 
the best, I am sure, for Farrar is very fond of Hal, 
and sees how intelligent he is, just as I do. The 
little dog is chained to a kennel all the time now, 
and, like his mistress, is trying to become dignified. 

Faye was made post adjutant this morning, which 
we consider rather complimentary, since the post 
commander is in the cavalry, and there are a number 
of cavalry lieutenants here. General Dickinson is a 
polished old gentleman, and his wife a very handsome 
woman who looks almost as young as her daughter. 
Miss Dickinson, the general's older daughter, is very 



70 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

pretty and a fearless rider. In a few days we two are 
to commence our morning rides. 

How very funny that I should have forgotten to 
tell you that I have a horse, at least I hope he will 
look like a horse when he has gained some flesh and 
lost much long hair. He is an Indian pony of very 
good size, and has a well-shaped head and slender lit- 
tle legs. He has a fox trot, which is wonderfully 
easy, and which he apparently can keep up indefinitely, 
and like all Indian horses can " run like a deer." So, 
altogether, he will do very well for this place, where 
rides are necessarily curtailed. I call him Cheyenne, 
because we bought him of Little Raven, a Cheyenne 
chief. I shall be so glad when I can ride again, as 
I have missed so much the rides and grand hunts at 
Fort Lyon. 

Later: The mail is just in, and letters have come 
from Fort Lyon telling us of the death of Lieutenant 
Baldwin ! It is dreadful — and seems impossible. They 
write that he became more and more despondent, un- 
til finally it was impossible to rouse him sufficiently 
to take an interest in his own life. Faye and I have 
lost a friend — a real, true friend. A brother could 
not have been kinder, more considerate than he was to 
both of us always. How terribly he must have 
grieved over the ruin of the horse he was so proud 
of, and loved so well ! 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
September, 1872. 

THE heat here is still intense, and it never rains, 
so everything is parched to a crisp. The river 
is very low and the water so full of alkali that we are 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 71 

obliged to boil every drop before it is used for drink- 
ing or cooking, and even then it is so distasteful that 
we flavor it with sugar of lemons so we can drink it 
at all. Fresh lemons are unknown here, of course. 
The ice has given out, but we manage to cool the water 
a little by keeping it in bottles and canteens down in 
the dug-out cellar. 

Miss Dickinson and I continue our daily rides, but 
go out very early in the morning. We have an orderly 
now, as General Dickinson considers it unsafe for us 
to go without an escort, since we were chased by an 
Indian the other day. That morning the little son of 
General Phillips was with us, and as it was not quite 
as warm as usual, we decided to canter down the 
sunflower road a little way — a road that runs to the 
crossing of Wolf Creek through an immense field of 
wild sunflowers. These sunflowers grow to a tre- 
mendous height in this country, so tall that some- 
times you cannot see over them even when on horse- 
back. Just across the creek there is a village of 
Apache Indians, and as these Indians are known to 
be hostile, this particular road is considered rather 
unsafe. 

But we rode on down a mile or more without see- 
ing a thing, and had just turned our ponies' heads 
homeward when little Grote, who was back of us, 
called out that an Indian was coming. That was 
startling, but upon looking back we saw that he was 
a long distance away and coming leisurely, so we did 
not pay much attention to him. 

But Grote was more watchful, and very soon 
screamed, " Mrs. Rae, Mrs. Rae, the Indian is com- 
ing fast — he's going to catch us ! " And then, with- 



72 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

out wasting time by looking back, we started our 
ponies with a bound that put them at their best pace, 
poor little Grote lashing his most unmercifully, and 
crying every minute, *' He'll catch us ! He'll catch 
us ! " 

That the Indian was on a fleet pony and was gain- 
ing upon us was very evident, and what might have 
happened had we not soon reached the sutler's store no 
one can tell, but we did get there just as he caught 
up with us, and as we drew in our panting horses that 
hideous savage rode up in front of us and circled 
twice around us, his pony going like a whirlwind ; 
and in order to keep his balance, the Indian leaned 
far over on one side, his head close to the pony's 
neck. He said " How " with a fiendish grin that 
showed how thoroughly he was enjoying our fright- 
ened faces, and then turned his fast little beast back 
to the sunflower road. Of course, as long as the road 
to the post was clear we were in no very great danger, 
as our ponies were fast, but if that savage could have 
passed us and gotten us in between him and the 
Apache village, we would have lost our horses, if not 
our lives, for turning off through the sunflowers 
would have been an impossibility. 

The very next morning, I think it was, one of the 
government mules wandered away, and two of the 
drivers went in search of it, but not finding it in 
the post, one of the men suggested that they should 
go to the river where the post animals are watered. 
It is a fork of the Canadian River, and is just over 
a little sand hill, not one quarter of a mile back of 
the (juarters, but not in the direction of the sun- 
flower road. The other man, however, said he would 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 73 

not go — that it was not safe — and came back to 
the corral, so the one who proposed going went on 
alone. 

Time passed and the man did not return, and 
finally a detail was sent out to look him up. They 
went directly to the river, and there they found him, 
just on the other side of the hill — dead. He had been 
shot by some fiendish Indian soon after leaving his 
companion. The mule has never been found, and 
is probably in a far-away Indian village, where he 
brays in vain for the big rations of corn he used to 
get at the government corral. 

Last Monday, soon after luncheon, forty or fifty 
Indians came rushing down the drive in front of the 
officers' quarters, frightening some of us almost out 
of our senses. Where they came from no one could 
tell, for not one sentry had seen them until they were 
near the post. They rode past the houses like mad 
creatures, and on out to the company gardens, where 
they made their ponies trample and destroy every 
growing thing. Only a few vegetables will mature 
in this soil and climate, but melons are often very good, 
and this season the gardeners had taken much pains 
with a crop of fine watermelons that were just begin- 
ning to ripen. But not one of these was spared — 
every one was broken and crushed by the little hoofs 
of the ponies, which seem to enjoy viciousness of this 
kind as much as the Indians themselves. 

A company of infantry was sent at once to the gar- 
dens, but as it was not quite possible for the men to 
outrun the ponies, the mischief had been done before 
they got there, and all they could do was to force 
them back at the point of the bayonet. Cavalry was 



74 



ARATY LETTERS FROM 







"Forty or fifty Indians came rushing down the drive." 



ordered out, also, to drive them away, but none of the 
troops were allowed to fire upon them, and that the 
Indians knew very well. It might have brought on 
an uprising! 

It seems that the Indians were almost all young 
bucks out for a frolic, but quite ready, officers say, for 
any kind of devilment. They rode around the post 
three or four times at breakneck speed, each circle 
being larger, and taking them farther away. At last 
they all started for the hills and gradually disap- 
peared — all but one, a sentinel, who could be seen 
until dark sitting his pony on the highest hill. I pre- 
sume there were dozens of Indians on the sand hills 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 75 

around the post peeking over to see how the fun 
went on. 

They seem to be watching the post every second of 
the day, ready to pounce upon any unprotected thing 
that ventures forth, be it man or beast. At almost 
any time two or three black dots can be seen on the 
top of the white sand hills, and one wonders how 
they can lie for hours in the hot, scorching sand 
with the sun beating down on their heads and backs. 
And all the time their tough little ponies will stand 
near them, down the hill, scarcely moving or making 
a sound. Some scouts declare that an Indian pony 
never whinnies or sneezes ! But that seems absurd, 
although some of those little beasts show wonderful 
intelligence and appear to have been apt pupils in 
treachery. 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
October, 1872. 

THIS place is becoming more dreadful each day, 
and every one of the awful things I feared might 
happen here seems to be coming to pass. Night before 
last the post was actually attacked by Indians ! It was 
about one o'clock when the entire garrison was awak- 
ened by rifle shots and cries of " Indians ! Indians ! " 
There was pandemonium at once. The " long roll " 
was beaten on the infantry drums, and " boots and 
saddles " sounded by the cavalry bugles, and these are 
calls that startle all who hear them, and strike terror 
to the heart of every army woman. They mean that 
something is wrong — very wrong — and demand the 
immediate report for duty at their respective com- 
panies of every officer and man in the garrison. 

Faye jumped into his uniform, and saying a hasty 



76 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

good-by, ran to his company, as did all the other offi- 
cers, and very soon we could hear the shouting of 
orders from every direction. 

Our house is at the extreme end of the officers' line 
and very isolated, therefore Mrs. Hunt and I were 
left in a most deplorable condition, with three little 
children — one a mere baby — to take care of. We put 
them all in one bed and covered them as well as we 
could without a light, which we did not dare have, of 
course. Then we saw that all the doors and windows 
were fastened on both sides. We decided that it 
would be quite impossible for us to remain shut up 
inside the house, so we dressed our feet, put 
on long waterproof coats over our nightgowns as 
quickly and silently as possible, and then we sat down 
on the steps of the front door to await — we knew not 
what. I had firm hold of a, revolver, and felt exceed- 
ingly grateful all the time that I had been taught so 
carefully how to use it, not that I had any hope of 
being able to do more with it than kill myself, if I fell 
in the hands of a fiendish Indian. I believe that Mrs. 
Hunt, however, was almost as much afraid of the 
pistol as she was of the Indians. 

Ten minutes after the shots were fired there was 
perfect silence throughout the garrison, and we knew 
absolutely nothing of what was taking place around us. 
Not one word did we dare even whisper to each other, 
our only means of communication being through our 
hands. The night was intensely dark and the air was 
close — almost suffocating. 

In this way we sat for two terrible hours, ever on 
the alert, ever listening for the stealthy tread of a 
moccasined foot at a corner of the house. And then, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 77 

just before dawn, when we were almost exhausted by 
the great strain on our strength and nerves, our hus- 
bands came. They told us that a company of infantry 
had been quite near us all the time, and that a troop 
of cavalry had been constantly patrolling around the 
post. I cannot understand how such perfect silence 
was maintained by the troops, particularly the cavalry. 
Horses usually manage to sneeze at such times. 

There is always a sentry at our corner of the gar- 
rison, and it was this sentinel who was attacked, and 
it is the general belief among the officers that the In- 
dians came to this corner hoping to get the troops con- 
centrated at the beat farthest from the stables, and thus 
give them a chance to steal some, if not all, of the 
cavalry horses. Biit Mr. Red Man's strategy is not 
quite equal to that of the Great Father's soldiers, or 
he would have known that troops would be sent at 
once to protect the horses. 

There were a great many pony tracks to be seen in 
the sand the next morning, and there was a mounted 
sentinel on a hill a mile or so away. It was amusing 
to watch him through a powerful field glass, and we 
wished that he could know just how his every move- 
ment could be seen. He sat there on his pony for 
hours, both Indian and horse apparently perfectly mo- 
tionless, but with his face always turned toward the 
post, ready to signal to his people the slightest move- 
ment of the troops. 

Faye says that the colored troops were real sol- 
diers that night, alert and plucky. I can readily be- 
lieve that some of them can be alert, and possibly 
good soldiers, and that they can be good thieves too, 
for last Saturday night they stole from us the commis- 



78 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

sary stores we had expected to last us one week — 
everything, in fact, except coffee, sugar, and such 
things that we keep in the kitchen, where it is dry. 

The commissary is open Saturday mornings only, 
at which time we are requested to purchase all sup- 
plies we will need from there for the following 
week, and as we have no fresh vegetables whatever, 
and no meat except beef, we are very dependent 
upon the canned goods and other things in the com- 
missary. 

Last Saturday Mrs. Hunt and I sent over as usual, 
and most of the supplies were put in a little dug- 
out cellar in the yard that we use together — she 
having one side, I the other. On Sunday morning 
Farrar happened to be the first cook to go out for 
things for breakfast, and he found that the door had 
been broken open and the shelves as bare as Mother 
Hubbard's. Everything had been carried off except a 
few candles on Mrs. Hunt's side, and a few cakes of 
laundry soap on mine! The candles they had no use 
for, and the thieves were probably of a class that had 
no use for soap, either. 

Our breakfast that morning was rather light, but 
as soon as word got abroad of our starving condition, 
true army hospitality and generosity manifested itself. 
We were invited out to luncheon, and to dinner, and 
to breakfast the next morning. You can see how like 
one big family a garrison can be, and how in times 
of trouble we go to each other's assistance. Of course, 
now and then we have disagreeable persons with us 
— those who will give you only three hours to move 
out of your house, or one who will order your cook 
from you, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 79 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
January, 1873. 

ALL that remained of Captain White was carried 
to the Httle cemetery yesterday, with all the 
miHtary honors possible at such a far-away post. 
We have no chaplain, therefore one of the cavalry 
officers read the service for the dead at the house, 
just before the march to the cemetery. Almost all 
of the cavalry of the garrison was out, mounted. 
Captain White's own troop having the lead, of 
course, and the greater part of the infantry was 
out also, and there was a firing detail, with guns 
reversed. 

The casket, covered with a large flag, was carried 
on a caisson, and his horse, led by an orderly, was 
covered with a large blanket of black cloth. Over this 
was the saddle, and on top of the saddle rested his 
helmet — the yellow horsehair plume and gold trim- 
mings looking soiled by long service. His sabre was 
there, too, and strapped to the saddle on each side 
were his uniform boots, toes in stirrups — all reversed! 
This riderless horse, with its pall of black, yellow hel- 
met, and footless boots, was the saddest sight imagin- 
able. 

I did not go to the cemetery, but we heard distinctly 
the firing of the three volleys over the grave and the 
sounding of taps on the bugles. The garrison flag had 
been drawn to half mast almost the moment of Cap- 
tain White's death, but at the last sound of taps it 
was immediately pulled up to full mast, and soon the 
troops came back to their quarters, the field music 
playing lively airs. 

This seemed so unnecessarily cruel, for Mrs. White 



8o ARMY LETTERS FROM 

must have heard every note, and she is still so 
wretchedly ill. The tiny baby has been taken from the 
house by the motherly wife of an officer, and the other 
tots — four in all — are being cared for by others. We 
have all been taking turns in sitting up nights during 
the illness of husband and wife, and last night three 
of us were there, Captain Tillman and Faye in one 
room, and I with I\Irs. White. It was a terrible 
night, probably the one that has exacted, or will exact, 
the greatest self-control, as it was the one before the 
burial. 

In civil life a poor widow can often live right on 
in her old home, but in the Army, never! Mrs. W'hite 
will have to give up the quarters just as soon as she 
and the little baby are strong enough to travel. She 
has been in a warm climate many years, and her 
friends are all in the North, so to-morrow a number 
of us are to commence making warm clothing for her 
and the children. She has absolutely nothing of the 
kind, and seems to be pitifully helpless and incapable 
of thinking for herself. 

Soon after I got home this morning and was trying 
to get a little sleep, I heard screams and an awful com- 
motion across the hall in one of Mrs. Hunt's rooms, 
and running over to see what was the matter, I found 
Mrs. Hvmt standing upon a chair, and her cook run- 
ning around like a madman, with a stick of wood in his 
hand, upsetting furniture and whacking things gen- 
erally. I naturally thought of a mouse, and not being 
afraid of them, I went on in and closed the door. I 
doubt if Mrs. Hunt saw me, she was so intently watch- 
ing the man, who kept on upsetting things. He 
stopped finally, and then held up on the wood a snake 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 8i 

• — a dead rattlesnake! We measured it, and it was 
over two feet long. 

You can see how the house is built by the photo- 
graph I sent you, that there are no chimneys, and that 
the stovepipes go straight up through the pole and sod 
roof. The children insist that the snake came down 
the pipe in the liveliest kind of a way, so it must have 
crawled up the logs to the roof, and finding the 
warmth of the pipe, got too close to the opening and 
slipped through. However that may be, he got into 
the room where the three little children were playing 
alone. Fortunately, the oldest recognized the danger 
at once, and ran screaming to her mother, the other 
two following. Mrs. Hunt was almost ill over the 
affair, and Major Hunt kept a man on top and around 
the old house hunting for snakes, until we began to 
fear it would be pulled down on our heads. 

This country itself is bad enough, and the location 
of the post is most unfortunate, but to compel officers 
and men to live in these old huts of decaying, moldy 
wood, which are reeking with malaria and alive with 
bugs, and perhaps snakes, is wicked. Officers' families 
are not obliged to remain here, of course. 

But at dreadful places like this is where the plucky 
army wife is most needed. Her very presence has 
often a refining and restraining influence over the 
entire garrison, from the commanding officer down to 
the last recruit. No one can as quickly grasp the pos- 
sibilities of comfort in quarters like these, or as bravely 
busy herself to fix them up. She knows that the stay 
is indefinite, that it may be for six months, or possibly 
six years, but that matters not. It is her army home 
— Brass Button's home — and however discouraging its 



82 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

condition may be, for his sake she pluckily, and with 
wifely pride, performs miracles, always making the 
house comfortable and attractive. 



Fort Dodge, Kansas, 
January, 1873. 

OUR coming here was most unexpected and very 
unpleasant in every way. General Phillips and 
Major Barker quarreled over something, and Major 
Barker preferred charges against the general, who is 
his company commander, and now General Phillips is 
being tried here by general court martial. Faye and 
I were summoned as witnesses by Major Barker, just 
because we heard a few words that were said in front 
of our window late one night ! The court has thought- 
fully excused me from going into the court room, as 
I could only corroborate Faye's testimony. I am so 
relieved, for it would have been a terrible ordeal to 
have gone in that room where all those officers are 
sitting, in full-dress uniform, too, and General Phillips 
with them. I would have been too frightened to have 
remembered one thing, or to have known whether I 
was telling the truth or not. 

General Dickinson and Ben Clark, his interpreter, 
came up in the ambulance with us, and the poor gen- 
eral is now quite ill, the result of an ice bath in the 
Arkansas River ! When we started to come across on 
the ice here at the ford, the mule leaders broke through 
and fell down on the river bottom, and being mules, 
not only refused to get up, but insisted upon keeping 
their noses under the water. The wheelers broke 
through, too, but had the good sense to stand on their 
feet, but they gave the ambulance such a hard jerk that 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 83 

the front wheels broke off more ice and went down to 
the river bottom, also. By the time all this had oc- 
curred, I was the only one left inside, and found myself 
very busy trying to keep myself from slipping down 
under the front seat, where water had already come 
in. General Dickinson and Faye were doing every- 
thing possible to assist the men. 

Just how it was accomplished would make too long 
a story to tell, but in a short time the leaders were 
dragged out and on their feet, and the rear wheels of 
the ambulance let down on the river bottom, and then 
we were all pulled up on the ice again, and came on 
to the post in safety. All but General Dickinson, who 
undertook to hold out of the water the heads of the 
two leaders who seemed determined to commit sui- 
cide by keeping their noses down, the general forget- 
ting for once that he was commanding officer. But 
one of those government mules did not forget, and 
with a sudden jerk of his big head he pulled the 
general over and down from the ice into the water, 
and in such a way that he was wedged tight in be- 
tween the two animals. One would have expected 
much objection on the part of the mules to the fishing 
out of the general, but those two mules kept perfectly 
still, apparently satisfied with the mischief that had 
already been done. I can fancy that there is one mule 
still chuckling over the fact of having gotten even 
with a commanding officer! It is quite warm now, 
and the ice has gone out of the river, so there will 
be no trouble at the ford to-morrow, when we start 
back. 

There is one company of Faye's regiment stationed 
here, and the officer in command of the post is major 



84 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

of the Third, so we feel at home. We are stay- 
ing with Lieutenant Harvey, who is making it very 
pleasant for us. Hal is with us, and is being petted 
by everybody, but most of all by the cavalry officers, 
some of whom have hunted with Magic, Hal's father. 
Last evening, while a number of us were sitting on 
the veranda after dinner, a large turkey gobbler came 
stalking down the drive in front of the officers' quar- 
ters, Hal was squatted down, hound fashion, at the 
top of the steps, and of course saw the gobbler at 
once. He never moved, except to raise his ears a 
little, but I noticed that his eyes opened wider and 
wider, and could see that he was making an estimate 
of the speed of that turkey, and also making up his 
mind that it was his duty as a self-respecting hound 
to resent the airs that were being assumed by the 
queer thing with a red nose and only two legs. So 
as soon as the turkey passed, down he jumped after 
him, and over him and around him, until really the 
poor thing looked about one half his former size. 
Then Hal got back of the turkey and waited for it 
to run, which it proceeded to do without loss of time, 
and then a funny race was on ! I could have cried, I 
was so afraid Hal would injure the turkey, but every- 
one else laughed and watched, as though it was the 
sporting event of the year, and they assured me that 
the dog would have to stop when he got to the very 
high gate at the end of the line. But they did not 
know that greyhound, for the gate gave him still an- 
other opportunity to show the thing that had wings 
to help its absurd legs along what a hound puppy 
could do. When they reached the gate the turkey 
went under, but the puppy went over, making a mag- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 85 

nificent jump that landed him yards in advance of the 
turkey, thereby causing him the loss of the race, for 
before he could stop himself and turn, the gobbler 
had very wisely hidden himself in a back yard. 

There was a shouting and clapping of hands all 
along the line because of the beautiful jump of so 
young a dog, but I must confess that all I thought of 
just then was gratitude that my dog had not made an 
untimely plucking of somebody's turkey, for in this 
country a turkey is something rare and valuable. 

Hal came trotting back with his loftiest steps and 
tail high in the air, evidently much pleased with his 
part in the entertainment. He is very tall now, and 
ran by the ambulance all the way up, and has been 
following me on my rides for some time. 

Cimarron Redoubt, Kansas, 
January, 1873. 

"\T/'HEN Faye was ordered here I said at once that 
VV I would come, too, and so I came! We are at 
a mail station — ^that is, where the relay mules are kept 
and where the mail wagon and escort remain over- 
night on their weekly trips from Camp Supply to Fort 
Dodge. A non-commissioned officer and ten privates 
are here all the time. 

The cause of Faye's being here is, the contractor 
is sending big trains of grain down to Camp Supply 
for the cavalry horses and other animals, and it was 
discovered that whisky was being smuggled to the In- 
dians in the sacks of oats. So General Dickinson sent 
an officer to the redoubt to inspect each sack as it is 
carried past by the ox trains. Lieutenant Cole was the 
first officer to be ordered up, but the place did not 
7 



86 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

agree with him, and at the end of three weeks he 
appeared at the post on a mail wagon, a very sick 
man — very sick indeed ! In less than half an hour 
Faye was ordered to relieve him, to finish Lieu- 
tenant Cole's tour in addition to his own detail of 
thirty days, which will give us a stay here of over 
five weeks. 

As soon as I heard of the order I announced that I 
was coming, but it was necessary to obtain the com- 
manding officer's permission first. This seemed rather 
hopeless for a time, the general declaring I would 
" die in such a hole/' where I could have no comforts, 
but he did not say I should not come. Faye did not 
want to leave me alone at the post, but was afraid the 
life here would be too rough for me, so I decided the 
matter for myself and began to make preparations to 
come away, and that settled all discussion. We were 
obliged to start early the next morning, and there were 
only a few hours in which to get ready. Packing the 
mess chest and getting commissary stores occupied 
the most time, for after our clothing was put away 
the closing of the house was a farce, " Pen dc bicn, 
peu de soin!" Farrar was permitted to come, and 
we brought Hal and the horse, so the family is still 
together. 

The redoubt is made of gunny sacks filled with 
sand, and is built on the principle of a permanent for- 
tification in miniature, with bastions, flanks, curtains, 
and ditch, and has two pieces of artillery. The para- 
pet is about ten feet high, upon the top of which a 
sentry walks all the time. This is technically correct, 
for Faye has just explained it all to me, so I could 
tell you about our castle on the plains. We have only 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 87 

two rooms for our own use, and these are partitioned 
off with vertical logs in one corner of the fortification, 
and our only roof is of canvas. 

When we first got here the dirt floor was very much 
like the side of a mountain — so sloping that we had 
difficulty in sitting upon the chairs. Faye had these 
made level at once, and fresh, dry sand sprinkled 
everywhere. 

We are right in the heart of the Indian country, 
almost on the line between Kansas and the Indian 
Territory, and are surrounded by any number of vil- 
lages of hostile Indians. We are forty miles from 
Camp Supply and about the same distance from Fort 
Dodge. The weather is delightful — sunny and very 
warm. 

I was prevented from finishing this the other day 
by the coming of a dozen or more /Vrapahoe Indians, 
but as the mail does not go north until to-morrow 
morning, I can tell you of the more than busy time we 
have had since then. 

For two or three days the weather had been unsea- 
sonably warm — almost like summer — and one evening 
it was not only hot, but so sultry one wondered where 
all the air had gone. About midnight, however, a 
terrific wind came up, cold and piercing, and very 
soon snow began to fall, and then we knew that we 
were having a " Texas norther," a storm that is feared 
by all old frontiersmen. Of course we were perfectly 
safe from the wind, for only a cyclone could tear down 
these thick walls of sand, but the snow sifted in every 
place — between the logs of the inner wall, around the 
windows — and almost buried us. And the cold became 
intense. 



88 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

111 the morning the logs of that entire wall from 
top to bottom, were white inside with snow, and 
looked like a forest in the far North. The floor was 
covered with snow, and so was the foot of the bed ! 
Our rooms were facing just right to catch the full 
force of the blizzard. The straightening out was ex- 
ceedingly unpleasant, for a fire could not be started 
in either stove until after the snow had been swept 
out. But a few soldiers can work miracles at times, 
and this proved to be one of the times. I went over 
to the orderly room while they brushed and scraped 
everywhere and fixed us up nicely, and we were soon 
warm and dry. 

The norther continued twenty-four hours, and the 
cold is still freezing. All the wood inside was soon 
consumed, and the men were compelled to go outside 
the redoubt for it, and to split it, too. The storm was 
so fierce and wholly blinding that it was necessary to 
fasten the end of a rope around the waist of each 
man as he went out, and tie the other end to the 
entrance gate to prevent him from losing his direction 
and wandering out on the plains. Even with this 
precaution it was impossible for a man to remain out 
longer than ten minutes, because of the terribly cold 
wind that at times was almost impossible to stand up 
against. 

Faye says that he cannot understand why the place 
has never been made habitable, or why Lieutenant 
Cole did not have the wood brought inside, where 
it would be convenient in case of a storm. Some of 
the men are working at the wood still, and others are 
making their quarters a little more decent. Every 
tiny opening in our own log walls has been chinked 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 89 

with pieces of blanket or anything that could be found, 
and the entire dirt floor has been covered with clean 
grain sacks that are held down smooth and tight by 
little pegs of wood, and over this rough carpet we 
have three rugs we brought with us. At the small 
window are turkey-red curtains that make very 
good shades when let down at night. There are warm 
army blankets on the camp bed, and a folded red 
squaw blanket on the trunk. The stove is as 
bright and shining as the strong arm of a soldier could 
make it, and on it is a little brass teakettle singing 
merrily. 

Altogether the little place looks clean and cheerful, 
quite unlike the " hole " we came to. Farrar has 
attended to his part in the kitchen also, and things 
look neat and orderly there. A wall tent has been 
pitched just outside our door that gives us a large 
storeroom and at the same time screens us from the 
men's quarters that are along one side of the sand- 
bag walls. 

On the side farthest from us the mules and horses 
are stabled, but one would never know that an animal 
was near if those big-headed mules did not occasion- 
ally raise their voices in brays that sound like old 
squeaky pumps. When it is pleasant they are all 
picketed out. 

At the first coming of the blizzard the sentry was 
ordered from the parapet, and is still off, and I am 
positive that unless one goes on soon at night I shall 
be wholly deaf, because I strain my ears the whole 
night through listening for Indians. The men are 
supposed to be ever ready for an attack, but if they 
require drums and cannon to awaken them in a garri- 



90 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

son, how can they possibly hear the stealthy step of an 
Indian here? It is foolish to expect anythini^ so un- 
reasonable. 

Cimarron Redoubt, Kansas, 
January, 1873. 

FANCY our having given a dinner party at this 
sand-bag castle on the plains, miles and miles 
from a white man or woman ! The number of guests 
was small, but their rank was immense, for we enter- 
tained Powder-Face, Chief of the Arapahoe Nation, 
and Wauk, his young squaw, mother of his little chief. 

Two or three days ago Powder-Face came to make a 
formal call upon the " White Chief," and brought with 
him two other Indians — aides we would call them, 
I presume. A soldier ofifered to hold his horse, but he 
would not dismount, and sat his horse with grave dig- 
nity until Faye went out and in person invited him to 
come in and have a smoke. He is an Indian of striking 
personality — is rather tall, with square, broad shoul- 
ders, and the poise of his head tells one at once that he 
is not an ordinary savage. 

We must have found favor with him, for as he was 
going away he announced that he would come again 
the next day and bring his squaw with him. Then 
Faye, in his hospitable way, invited them to a mid- 
day dinner ! I was almost speechless from horror 
at the very thought of sitting at a table with an Indian, 
no matter how great a chief he might be. But I could 
say nothing, of course, and he rode away with the 
understanding that he was to return the following 
day. Faye assured me that it would be amusing to 
watch them, and be a break in the monotony here. 

They appeared promptly, and I became interested 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 91 

in Wauk at once, for she was a remarkable squaw. 
Tall and slender, with rather a thin, girlish face, very 
unlike the short, fat squaws one usually sees, and she 
had the appearance of being rather tidy, too. I could 
not tell if she was dressed specially for the occasion, 
as I had never seen her before, but everything she had 
on was beautifully embroidered with beads — mostly 
white — and small teeth of animals. She wore a sort 
of short skirt, high leggings, and of course moccasins, 
and around her shoulders and falling far below her 
waist was a queer-shaped garment — neither cape nor 
shawl — dotted closely all over with tiny teeth, which 
were fastened on at one end and left to dangle. 

High up around her neck was a dog collar of fine 
teeth that was really beautiful, and there were several 
necklaces of different lengths hanging below it, one 
of which was of polished elk teeth and very rare. The 
skins of all her clothing had been tanned until they 
were as soft as kid. Any number of bracelets were 
on her arms, many of them made of tin, I think. Her 
hair was parted and hung in loose ropes down each 
shoulder in front. Her feet and hands were very 
small, even for an Indian, and showed that life had 
been kind to her. I am confident that she must have 
been a princess by birth, she was so different from all 
squaws I have seen. She could not speak one word 
of English, but her lord, whom she seemed to adore, 
could make himself understood very well by signs 
and a word now and then. 

Powder-Face wore a blanket, but underneath it was 
a shirt of fine skins^ the front of which was almost 
covered with teeth, beads, and wampum. His hair 
was roped on each side and hung in front, and the 



92 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



scalp lock on top was made conspicuous by the usual 
long feather stuck through it. 

The time came when dinner could no longer be put 
off, so we sat down. Our menu in this place is neces- 
sarily limited, but a friend at Fort Dodge had added 
to our stores by sending us some fresh potatoes and 
some lettuce by the mail wagon just the day before, 
and both of these Powder-Face seemed to enjoy. In 
fact, he ate of everything, but Wauk was more par- 
ticular — lettuce, potatoes, and ham she would not 
touch. Their table manners were not of the very best 
form, as might be expected, but they conducted them- 
selves rather decently — far better than I had feared 
they would. All the time I was wondering what that 
squaw was thinking of things ! Powder-Face was 
taken to Washington last year with chiefs of other 
nations to see the " Great Father," so he knew much 
of the white man's ways, but Wauk was a wild crea- 
ture of the plains. 

We kept them bountifully supplied with everything 
on the table, so our own portion of the dinner would 
remain unmolested, although neither Faye nor I had 
much appetite just then. When Farrar came in to 
remove the plates for dessert, and Powder-Face saw 
that the remaining food was about to disappear, he 
pushed Farrar back and commenced to attend to the 
table himself. He pulled one dish after another to 
him, and scraped each one clean, spreading all the 
butter on the bread, and piled up buffalo steak, ham, 
potatoes, peas — in fact, every crumb that had been 
left — making one disgusting mess, and then tapping 
it with his finger said, " Papoose ! Papoose ! " We had 
it all put in a paper and other things added, which 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 93 

made Wauk almost bob off her chair in her deHght 
at having such a feast for her Httle chief. But the 
condition of my tablecloth made me want to bob up 
and down for other feelings than delight ! 

After dinner they all sat by the stove and smoked, 
and Powder-Face told funny things about his trip 
East that we could not always interpret, but which 
caused him and Wauk to laugh heartily. Wauk sat 
very close to him, with elbows on her knees, looking 
as though she would much prefer to be squatted down 
upon the floor. 

The tepee odor became stifling, so in order to get 
as far from the Indians as possible, I went across the 
room and sat upon a small trunk by the window. I 
had not been there five minutes, however, before that 
wily chief, who had apparently not noticed my exist- 
ence, got up from his chair, gathered his blanket 
around him, and with long strides came straight to 
me. Then with a grip of steel on my shoulder, he 
jerked me from the trunk and fairly slung me over 
against the wall, and turning to Faye with his head 
thrown back he said, " Whisk ! Whisk ! " at the same 
time pointing to the trunk. 

The demand was imperious, and the unstudied poise 
of the powerfully built Indian, so full of savage dig- 
nity, was magnificent. As I calmly think of it now, 
the whole scene was grand. The rough room, with 
its low walls of sand-bags and logs, the Indian prin- 
cess in her picturesque dress of skins and beads, the 
fair army officer in his uniform of blue, both looking 
in astonishment at the chief, whose square jaws and 
flashing eyes plainly told that he was accustomed to 
being obeyed, and expected to be obeyed then! 



94 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Faye says that I misled part of the scene ; that, 
backed up against sand-bags and cHnging to them on 
either side for support, stood a slender young woman 
with pigtail hanging down one shoulder, so terrified 
that her face, although brown from exposure to sun 
and wind, had become white and chalky. It is not 
surprising that my face turned white ; the only won- 
der is that the pigtail did not turn white, too ! 

It was not right for Faye to give liquor to an 
Indian, but what else could be done under the cir- 
cumstances? There happened to be a flask of brandy 
in the trunk, but fortunately there was only a small 
quantity that we had brought up for medicinal pur- 
poses, and it was precious, too, for we were far from 
a doctor. But Faye had to get it out for the chief, 
who had sat there smoking in such an innocent way, 
but who had all the time been studying out where there 
might be hidden some " whisk ! " Wauk drank almost 
all of it, Powder-Face seeming to derive more pleas- 
ure in seeing her drink his portion than in drinking it 
himself. Consequently, when she went out to mount 
her horse her steps were a little unsteady, over which 
the chief laughed heartily. 

It was with the greatest relief I saw them ride away. 
They certainly had furnished entertainment, but it was 
of a kind that would satisfy one for a long time. I 
was afraid they might come for dinner again the fol- 
lowing day, but they did not. 

Powder-Face thought that the pony Cheyenne was 
not a good enough horse for me, so the morning after 
he was here an Indian, called Dog, appeared with a 
very good animal, large and well gaited, that the 
chief had sent over, not as a present, but for a trade. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 95 

We let poor Cheyenne go back to the Indians, a quan- 
tity of sugar, coffee, and such things going with him, 
and now I have a strawberry-roan horse named 
Powder-Face. 

Chief Powder-Face, who is really not old, is re- 
spected by everyone, and has been instrumental in 
causing the Arapahoe nation to cease hostilities to- 
ward white people. Some of the chiefs of lesser rank 
have much of the dignity of high-born savages, par- 
ticularly Lone Wolf and his son Big Mouth, both of 
whom come to see us now and then. Lone Wolf is no 
longer a warrior, and of course no longer wears a 
scalp lock and strings of wampum and beads, and 
would like to have you believe that he has ever been 
the white man's friend, but I suspect that even now 
there might be brought forth an old war belt with 
hanging scalps that could tell of massacre, torture, 
and murder. Big Mouth is a war chief, and has the 
same grand physique as Powder-Face and a personal- 
ity almost as striking. His hair is simply splendid, 
wonderfully heavy and long and very glossy. His 
scalp lock is most artistic, and undoubtedly kept in 
order by a squaw. 

The picture of the two generations of chiefs is 
unique and rare. It shows in detail the everyday dress 
of the genuine blanket Indians as we see them here. 
Just how it was obtained I do not know, for Indians 
do not like a camera. We have daily visits from doz- 
ens of so-called friendly Indians, but I would not trust 
one of them. Many white people who have lived 
among Indians and know them well declare that an 
Indian is always an Indian ; that, no matter how fine 
the veneering civilization may have given him, there 



96 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ever lies dormant the traits of the savage, ready to 
spring forth without warning in acts of treachery and 
fiendish cruelty. 

Cimarron Redoubt, 
January, 1873. 

IT was such a pleasant surprise yesterday when 
General Bourke drove up to the redoubt on his 
way to Camp Supply from dear old Fort Lyon. He 
has been ordered to relieve General Dickinson, and was 
taking down furniture, his dogs, and handsome team. 
Of course there w'as an escort, and ever so majiy 
wagons, some loaded with tents and camp outfits. We 
are rejoicing over the prospect of having an infantry 
officer in command when we return to the post. The 
general remained for luncheon and seemed to enjoy 
the broiled bufifalo steak very much. He said that 
now there are very few buffalo in Colorado and Kan- 
sas, because of their wholesale slaughter by white men 
during the past year. These men kill them for the 
skins only, and General Bourke said that he saw hun- 
dreds of carcasses on the plains between Lyon and 
Dodge. They are boldly coming to the Indian Terri- 
tory now, and cavalry has been sent out several times 
to drive them from the reservation. 

If the Indians should attempt to protect their rights 
it would be called an uprising at once, so they have 
to lie around on the sand hills and watch their beloved 
bufifalo gradually disappear, and all the time they 
know only too well that with theiu will go the skins 
that give them tepees and clothing, and the meat that 
furnishes almost all of their sustenance. 

During the blizzard two weeks ago ten or twelve 
of these bufifalo hunters were caught out in the storm, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 97 

and being unable to find their own camps they wan- 
dered into Indian villages, each man about half dead 
from exposure to the cold and hunger. All were suf- 
fering more or less from frozen feet and hands. In 
every case the Indians fed and cared for them until 
the storm was over, and then they told them to go — 
and go fast and far, or it would not be well with them. 
Faye says that it was truly noble in the Indians to 
keep alive those men when they knew they had been 
stealing so much from them. But Faye can always 
see more good in Indians than I can. Even a savage 
could scarcely kill a man when he appeals to him for 
protection ! 

There is some kind of excitement here every day — 
some pleasant, some otherwise — usually otherwise. 
The mail escort and wagon are here two nights dur- 
ing the week, one on the way to Fort Dodge, the other 
on the return trip, so we hear the little bits of gossip 
from each garrison. The long trains of army wagons 
drawn by mules that carry stores to the post always 
camp near us one night, because of the water. 

But the most exciting times are when the big ox 
trains come along that are taking oats and corn to 
the quartermaster for the cavalry horses and mules, 
for in these sacks of grain there is ever a possibility of 
liquor being found. The sergeant carefully punches 
the sacks from one end to the other with a long steel 
very much like a rifle rammer ; but so far not a thing 
has been found, but this is undoubtedly because they 
know what to expect at this place now. Faye is 
always present at the inspection, and once I watched 
it a short distance away. 

When there are camps outside I always feel a little 



98 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

more protected from the Indians. I am kept awake 
hours every night by my uncontrollable fear of their 
getting on top of the parapet and cutting holes in the 
canvas over our very heads and getting into the room 
that way. A sentry is supposed to walk around the 
top every few minutes, but I have very little confi- 
dence in his protection. I really rely upon Hal more 
than the sentry to give warning, for that dog can hear 
the stealthy step of an Indian when a long distance 
from him. And I believe he can smell them, too. 

We bought a beautiful buffalo-calf robe for a bed 
for him, and that night I folded it down nicely and 
called him to it, thinking he would be delighted with 
so soft and warm a bed. But no ! He went to it be- 
cause I called him and patted it, but put one foot on 
it he would not. He gave a little growl, and putting 
his tail up, walked away with great dignity and a look 
of having been insulted. 

Of course the skin smelled strong of the tepee and 
Indians. We sunned and aired it for days, and Far- 
rar rubbed the fur with camphor and other things to 
destroy the Indian odor, and after much persuading 
and any amount of patience on our part, Hal finally 
condescended to use the robe. He now considers it 
the finest thing on earth, and keeps close watch of it 
at all times. 

We have visits from Indians every day, and this 
variation from the monotony is not agreeable to me, 
but Faye goes out and has long powwows with them. 
They do not hesitate to ask for things, and the more 
you give the more you may. 

The other morning Faye saw a buffalo calf not 
far from the redoubt, and decided to go for it, as we, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 99 

also the men, were in need of fresh meat. So he 
started off on Powder-Face, taking only a revolver 
with him. I went outside to watch him ride off, and 
just as the calf disappeared over a little hill and he 
after it, an Indian rode down the bluff at the right, 
and about the same distance away as I thought Faye 
might be, and started in a canter straight across in 
the direction Faye had gone. Very soon he, also, was 
back of the little hill and out of sight. 

I ran inside and called the sergeant, and was trying 
to explain the situation to him as briefly as possible 
when he, without waiting for me to finish, got his rifle 
and cartridge belt, and ordering a couple of men to 
follow, started off on a hard run in the direction I 
had designated. As soon as they reached the top 
of the hill they saw Faye, and saw also that the In- 
dian was with him. The men went on over slowly, 
but stopped as soon as they got within rifle range of 
Faye, for of course the Indian would never have 
attempted mischief when he knew that the next in- 
stant he would be riddled with bullets. The Indian 
was facing the soldiers and saw them at once, but 
they were at Faye's back, so he did not know they 
were there until he turned to come home. 

Faye says that the Indian was quite near before 
he saw him at all, as he had not been thinking of 
Indians in his race after the little buffalo. He came 
up and said " How ! " of course, and then by signs 
asked to see Faye's revolver, which has an ivory 
handle with nickel barrel and trimmings, all of which 
the Indian saw at once, and decided to make his own 
without loss of time, and then by disarming Faye he 
would be master of things generally. 



loo ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Faye pulled the pistol from its holster and held it 
out for the Indian to look at, but with a tight grip on 
the handle and finger on trigger, the muzzle pointed 
straight to his treacherous heart. This did not dis- 
turb the Indian in the least, for he grasped the barrel 
and with a twist of the wrist tried to jerk it down 
and out of Faye's hand. But this he failed to do, so, 
with a sarcastic laugh, he settled himself back on his 
pony to await a more favorable time when he could 
catch Faye off guard. He wanted that glistening 
pistol, and he probably wanted the fat pony also. And 
thus they sat facing each other for several minutes, 
the Indian apparently quite indifferent to pistols and 
all things, and Faye on the alert to protect himself 
against the first move of treachery. 

It would have been most unsafe for Faye to have 
turned from the crafty savage, and just how long the 
heart-to-heart interview might have lasted or what 
would have happened no one can tell if the coming 
in sight of the soldiers with their long guns had not 
caused him to change his tactics. After a while he 
grunted " How ! " again, and, assuming an air of great 
contempt for soldiers, guns, and shiny pistols, rode 
away and soon disappeared over the bluff. There 
was only the one Indian in sight, but, as the old ser- 
geant said, " there might have been a dozen red 
devils just over the bluff! " 

One never knows when the " red devils " are near, 
for they hide themselves back of a bunch of sage 
brush, and their ponies, whose hoofs are never shod, 
can get over the ground very swiftly and steal upon 
you almost as noiselessly as their owners. It is need- 
less to sav that we did not have fresh buffalo that dav ! 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 103 

And the buffalo calf ran on to the herd wholly uncon- 
scious of his narrow escape. 

We expect to return to Camp Supply in a few days, 
and in many ways I shall be sorry to leave this place. 
It is terrible to be so isolated, when one thinks about it, 
especially if one should be ill. I shall miss Miss 
Dickinson in the garrison very much, and our daily 
rides together. General Dickinson and his family 
passed here last week on their way to his new station. 



Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
February, 1873. 

UPON our return from the Cimarron we found a 
dear, clean house all ready for us to move into. 
It was a delightful surprise, and after the wretched 
huts we have been living in ever since we came to this 
post, the house with its white walls and board floors 
seems like fairyland. It is made of vertical logs of 
course, the same as the other quarters, but these 
have been freshly chinked, and covered on the inside 
with canvas. General Bourke ordered the quarter- 
master to fix the house for us, and I am glad that 
Major Knox was the one to receive the order, for I 
have not forgotten how disagreeable he was about 
the fixing up of our first house here. One can im- 
agine how he must have fumed over the issuing of 
so much canvas, boards, and even the nails for the 
quarters of only a second lieutenant ! 

Many changes have been made during the few 
weeks General Bourke has been here, the most im- 
portant having been the separating of the white troops 
from the colored when on guard duty. The officers 
and men of the colored cavalry have not liked this. 



I04 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

naturally, but it was outrageous to put white and 
black in the same little guard room, and colored ser- 
geants over white corporals and privates. It was good 
cause for desertion. But all that is at an end now. 
General Dickinson is no longer commanding officer, and 
best of all, the colored troops have been ordered to 
another department, and the two troops of white cav- 
alry that are to relieve them are here now and in camp 
not far from the post, waiting for the barracks to be 
vacated. 

We have felt very brave since the camp has been 
established, and two days ago several of us drove over 
to a Cheyenne village that is a mile or so up the creek. 
But soon after we got there we did not feel a bit brave, 
for we had not been out of the ambulance more than 
five minutes, when one of their criers came racing in 
on a very wet pony, and rode like mad in and out 
among the tepees, all the time screaming something 
at the top of his voice. 

Instantly there was a jabbering by all of them and 
great commotion. Each Indian talked and there 
seemed to be no one to listen. Several tepees were 
taken down wonderfully quick, and a number of 
ponies were hurried in, saddled, and ridden away at 
race speed, a few squaws wailing as they watched 
them go, guns in their hands. Other squaws stood 
around looking at us, and showing intense hatred 
through their wicked eyes. It was soon discovered by 
all of us that the village was really not attractive, and 
four scared women came back to the garrison as fast 
as government mules could bring them ! What was the 
cause of so much excitement we will probably never 
know — and of course we should not have gone there 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 107 

without an officer, and yet, what could one man have 
done against all those savages ! 

We were honored by a visit from a chief the other 
day. He was a Cheyenne from the village, presum- 
ably, and his name was White Horse. He must have 
been born a chief for he was young, very dignified, 
and very good-looking, too, for an Indian. Of course 
his face was painted in a hideous way, but his 
leggings and clothing generally were far more tidy 
than those of most Indians. His chest was literally 
covered with polished teeth of animals, beads, and 
wampum, arranged artistically in a sort of breast- 
plate, and his scalp lock, which had evidently been 
plaited with much care, was ornamented with a very 
beautiful long feather. 

Fortunately Faye was at home when he came, for 
he walked right in, unannounced, except the usual 
" How ! " Faye gave him a chair, and this he 
placed in the middle of the room in a position so he 
could watch both doors, and then his rifle was laid 
carefully upon the floor at his right side. He could 
speak his name, but not another word of English, 
so, thinking to entertain him, Faye reached for a 
rifle that was standing in one corner of the room to 
show him, as it was of a recent make. Although 
the rifle was almost at the Indian's back the suspi- 
cious savage saw what Faye was doing, and like a 
flash he seized his own gun and laid it across his 
knees, all the time looking straight at Faye to see 
what he intended to do next. Not a muscle of his 
face moved, but his eyes were wonderful, brilliant, 
and piercing, and plainly said, " Go ahead, I'm 
ready ! " 



io8 ARMY LETTERS EROM 

I saw the whole performance and was wondering 
if I had not better run for assistance, when Faye 
laughed, and motioned the Indian to put his rifle down 
again, at the same time pulHng the trigger of his own 
to assure him that it was not loaded. This apparently 
satisfied him, but he did not put his gun back on the 
floor, but let it rest across his knees all the time he 
sat there. And that was for the longest time — and 
never once did he change his position, turn his head, 
or, as we could see, move an eyelid ! But neverthe- 
less he made one feel that it was not necessary for 
him to turn his head — that it was all eyes, that he 
could see up and down and across and could read 
one's very thoughts, too. 

The Indian from whom we bought Powder-Face 
— his name is Dog, you will remember — has found 
us out, and like a dog comes every day for something 
to eat. He always walks right into the kitchen ; if the 
door is closed he opens it. If he is not given things 
he stands around with the greatest patience, giving lit- 
tle grunts now and then, and watches Farrar until the 
poor soldier becomes worn out and in self-defense 
gives him something, knowing full well all the time 
that trouble is being stored up for the next day. The 
Indian never seems cross, but smiles at everything, 
which is most unusual in a savage. 

With the white cavalry is a classmate of Faye's, 
Lieutenant Isham, and yesterday I went out to camp 
with him and rode his horse, a large, spirited animal. 
It was the horse's first experience with a side sad- 
dle, and at first he objected to the habit and jumped 
around and snorted quite a Httle, but he soon saw that 
I was really not a dangerous person and quieted down. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 109 

As Lieutenant Isham and I were cantering along at 
a nice brisk gait we met Faye, who was returning 
from the camp on Powder-Face, and it could be 
plainly seen that he disapproved of my mount. But 
he would not turn back with us, however, and we 
went on to camp without him. There is something 
very fascinating about a military camp — it is always 
so precise and trim — the little tents for the men pitched 
in long straight lines, each one looking as though it 
had been given especial attention, and with all things 
is the same military precision and neatness. It was 
afternoon stables and we rode around to the picket 
lines to watch the horses getting their grooming. 

When I got home Faye was quick to tell me that 
I would certainly be killed if I continued to ride every 
untrained horse that came along ! Not a very pleasant 
prospect for me ; but I told him that I did not want 
to mortify him and myself, too, by refusing to mount 
horses that his own classmates, particularly those in 
the cavalry, asked me to ride, and that I knew very 
well he would much prefer to see me on a spirited 
animal than a " gentle ladies' horse " that any inex- 
perienced rider could manage. So we decided that 
the horse, after all, was not a vicious beast, and I am 
to ride him again to-morrow. 

Last evening we gave a delightful little dance in 
the hall in honor of the officers and their wives who 
are to go, and the officers who have come. We all 
wore our most becoming gowns, and anyone unac- 
quainted with army life on the frontier would have 
been surprised to see what handsome dresses can be 
brought forth, even at this far-away post, when oc- 
casion demands. There are two very pretty girls 



no ARMY LETTERS FROM 

from the East visiting in the garrison, and several of 
the wives of officers are young and attractive, and 
the mingling of the pretty faces and bright-colored 
dresses with the dark blue and gold of the uniforms 
made a beautiful scene. It is not in the least sur- 
prising that girls become so silly over brass buttons. 
Even the wives get silly over them sometimes ! 

Camp Supply, Indian Territory, 
April, 1873. 

IN the last mail Faye heard from his application 
for transfer to another company, and the order will 
be issued as soon as the lieutenant in that company 
has been promoted, which will be in a few weeks. 
This will take us back to Fort Lyon with old friends, 
and Faye to a company whose captain is a gentle- 
man. He was one of Faye's instructors at West 
Point. 

I have a new horse — and a lively one, too — so lively 
that I have not ridden him yet. He was a present 
from Lieutenant Isham, and the way in which he hap- 
pened to possess him makes a pretty little story. The 
troop had been sent out on a scout, and was on its 
way back to the post to be paid, when one evening this 
pony trotted into camp and at once tried to be friendly 
with the cavalry horses, but the poor thing was so 
frightfully liideous with its painted coat the horses 
would not permit him to come near them for some 
time. But the men caught him and brought him on 
to the stables, where there was trouble at once, for 
almost every man in the troop claimed ownership. So 
it was finally decided by the captain that as soon as 
the troop had been paid the horse should be raffled, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE iii 

that each man in that one troop could have the privi- 
lege of buying a chance at one dollar, and that the 
money should go in the troop fund. This arrange- 
ment delighted the men, as it promised something new 
in the way of a frolic. 

In due time the paymaster arrived, the men were 
paid, and then in a few minutes there was brisk busi- 
ness going on over at the quarters of the troop! 
Every enlisted man in the troop — sergeants, corporals, 
and privates, eighty-four in all — bought a chance, thus 
making a fine sum for the fund. A private won the 
horse, of whom Lieutenant Isham immediately bought 
him and presented him to me. 

He is about fifteen hands high and not in the least 
of a pony build, but is remarkably slender, with fine 
head and large intelHgent eyes. Just what his color 
is we do not know, for he is stained in red-brown 
stripes all over his body, around his legs, and on his 
face, but we think he is a light gray. When he wan- 
dered to camp, a small bell was tied around his neck 
with a piece of red flannel, and this, with his having 
been so carefully stained, indicates almost conclusively 
that he was a pet. Some of the soldiers insist that 
he was a race pony, because he is not only very swift, 
but has been taught to take three tremendous jumps 
at the very beginning of his run, which gives him an 
immense advantage, but which his rider may some- 
times fail to appreciate. These jumps are often taught 
the Indian race ponies. The horse is gentle with Faye 
and is certainly graceful, but he is hard to hold and 
inclined to bolt, so I will not try him until he becomes 
more civilized. 

The Indians are very bold again. A few days ago 



112 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Lieutenant Golden was in to luncheon, and while we 
were at the table we saw several Kiowas rush across 
the creek and stampede five or six horses that be- 
longed to our milkman, who has a ranch just out- 
side the garrison. In a few minutes an orderly 
appeared with an order for Lieutenant Golden and ten 
men to go after them without delay, and bring the 
horses back. 

Of course he started at once, and chased those In- 
dians all the afternoon, and got so close to them once 
or twice that they saw the necessity of lightening the 
weight on their tired ponies, and threw off their old 
saddles and all sorts of things, even little bags of 
shot, but all the time they held on to their guns 
and managed to keep the stolen horses ahead of them. 
They had extra ponies, too, that they swung them- 
selves over on when the ridden beasts began to lag a 
little. When night came on Lieutenant Golden was 
compelled to give up the chase, and had to return to 
the post without having recovered one of the stolen 
horses. 

One never knows here what dreadful things may 
come up any moment. Everything was quiet and 
peaceful when we sat down to luncheon, yet in less 
than ten minutes we saw the rush of the Indians and 
the stampede of the milkman's horses right from 
our dining-room window. The horses were close to 
the post too. Splendid cavalry horses were sent after 
them, but it requires a very swift horse to overtake 
those tough little Indian ponies at any time, and the 
Kiowas probably were on their best ponies when they 
stampeded the horses, for they knew, undoubtedly, 
that cavalry would soon be after them. 




u 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 115 

Dodge City, Kansas, 
June, 1873. 

WE reached this place yesterday, expecting to 
take the cars this morning for Granada, but the 
servant who was to have come from Kansas City on 
that train will not be here until to-morrow. When 
the time came to say good-by, I was sorry to leave 
a number of the friends at Camp Supply, particularly 
Mrs. Hunt, with whom we stayed the last few days, 
while we were packing. Everyone was at the ambu- 
lance to see us ofif — except the Phillips family. 

We were three days coming up, because of one or 
two delays the very first day. One of the wagons 
broke down soon after we left the post, and an hour 
or so was lost in repairing it, and at Buffalo Creek 
we were delayed a long time by an enormous herd of 
buffalo. It was a sight that probably we will never 
see again. The valley was almost black with the big 
animals, and there must have been hundreds and hun- 
dreds of them on either side of the road. They 
seemed very restless, and were constantly moving 
about instead of grazing upon the buffalo grass, which 
is unusually fine along that valley, and this made us 
suspect that they had been chased and hunted until 
the small bands had been driven together into one 
big herd. Possibly the hunters had done this them- 
selves, so the slaughter could be the greater and the 
easier. It is remarkable that such grand-looking 
beasts should have so little sense as to invariably cross 
the road right in front of moving teams, and fairly 
challenge one to make targets of them. It was this 
crossing of large numbers that detained us so long 
yesterday. 



ii6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

When we got out about fifteen miles on the road, an 
Apache Indian appeared, and so suddenly that it 
seemed as if he must have sprung up from the 
ground. He was in full war dress — that is, no dress at 
all except the breech clout and moccasins — and his face 
and whole naked body were stained in many colors in 
the most hideous manner. In his scalp lock was fast- 
ened a number of eagle feathers, and of course he 
wore two or three necklaces of beads and wampum. 
There was nothing unusual about the pony he was 
riding, except that it was larger and in better condi- 
tion than the average Indian horse, but the one he was 
leading — undoubtedly his war horse — was a most beau- 
tiful animal, one of the most beautiful I ever saw. 

The Apache evidently appreciated the horse, for he 
had stained only his face, but this had been made 
quite as frightful as that of the Indian. The pony was 
of a bright cream color, slender, and with a perfect 
head and small ears, and one could see that he was 
quick and agile in every movement. He was well 
groomed, too. The long, heavy mane had been parted 
from ears to withers, and then twisted and roped on 
either side with strips of some red stuff that ended in 
long streamers, which were blown out in a most fan- 
tastic way when the pony was running. The long tail 
was roped only enough to fasten at the top a number 
of strips of the red that hung almost to the ground 
over the hair. Imagine all this savage hidcousness 
rushing upon you — on a yellow horse with a mane of 
waving red ! His very presence on an ordinary trot- 
ting pony was enough to freeze the blood in one's 
veins. 

That he was a spy was plainly to be seen, and we 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



117 



knew also that his band was probably not far away. 
He seemed in very good spirits, asked for " tobac," 
and rode along with us some distance — long enough to 
make a careful estimate of our value and our strength. 




"Imagine all this savage hideousness rushing upon you!" 



Finally he left us and disappeared over the hills. 
Then the little escort of ten men received orders from 
Faye to be on the alert, and hold themselves and their 
rifles ready for a sudden attack. 

We rode on and on, hoping to reach the Cimarron 
Redoubt before dark, but that had to be given up 
9 



ii8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

and camp was made at Snake Creek, ten miles the 
other side. Not one Indian had been seen on the road 
except the Apache, and this made us all the more un- 
comfortable. Snake Creek was where the two couriers 
were shot by Indians last summer, and that did not 
add to our feelings of security — at least not mine. We 
were in a little coulee, too, where it would have been 
an easy matter for Indians to have sneaked upon us. 
No one in the camp slept much that night, and most 
of the men were walking post to guard the animals. 
And those mules! I never heard mules, and horses 
also, sneeze and cough and make so much unneces- 
sary noise as those animals made that night. And 
Hal acted like a crazy dog — barking and growling 
and rushing out of the tent every two minutes, terri- 
fying me each time with the fear that he might have 
heard the stealthy step of a murderous savage. 

Everyone lived through the night, however, but we 
were all glad to make an early start, so before day- 
light we were on the road. The old sergeant agreed 
with Faye in thinking that we were in a trap at the 
camp, and should move on early. We did not stop at 
the Redoubt, but I saw as we passed that the red cur- 
tains were still at the little window. 

It seems that we are not much more safe in this 
place than we were in camp in an Indian country. 
The town is dreadful and has the reputation of being 
one of the very worst in the West since the railroad has 
been built. They say that gamblers and all sorts of 
" toughs " follow a new road. After breakfast this 
morning we started for a walk to give Hal a little 
run, but when we got to the office the hotel proprietor 
told us that the dog must be led, otherwise he would 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 119 

undoubtedly be stolen right before our eyes. Faye 
said : " No one would dare do such a thing ; I would 
have him arrested." But the man said there was no 
one here who would make the arrest, as there certainly 
would be two or more revolvers to argue with first, 
and in any case the dog would be lost to us, for if the 
thief saw that he could not hold him the dog would 
undoubtedly be shot. Just imagine such a thing! So 
Hal was led by his chain, but he looked so abused and 
miserable, and I was so frightened and nervous, our 
outing was short, and here we are shut up in our little 
room. 

We can see the car track from the window, and I 
wonder how it will seem to go over in a car, the coun- 
try that we came across in wagons only one year ago. 
From Granada we will go to the post in an ambu- 
lance, a distance of forty or more miles. But a ride 
of fifty miles over these plains has no terrors for me 
now. The horses, furniture, and other things went 
on in a box car this morning. It is very annoying to 
be detained here so long, and I am a little worried 
about that girl. The telegram says she was too sick 
to start yesterday. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
June, 1873. 

IT has been impossible for me to write before, for I 
have been more than busy, both day and night, ever 
since we got here. The servant for whom we waited 
at Dodge City, and who I had hoped would be a great 
assistance to me in getting settled, came to us very 
ill — almost too ill to be brought over from Granada. 
But we could not leave her there with no one to take 
care of her, and of course I could not remain with her, 



I20 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

so there was nothing else to be clone — we had to bring 
her along. We had accepted Mrs. Wilder's invita- 
tion to stay with them a few days until we could get 
settled a little, but all that was changed when we got 
here, for we were obliged to come directly to our own 
house, unpack camp bedding and the mess chest, and 
do the best we could for ourselves and the sick girl. 

The post surgeon told us as soon as he had exam- 
ined the girl that she had tuberculosis in almost its 
last stage, and that she was threatened with double 
pneumonia! So you can imagine what I have been 
through in the way of nursing, for there was no one 
in the garrison who would come to assist me. The most 
unpleasant part of it all is, the girl is most ungrateful 
for all that is being done for her, and finds fault with 
many things. She has admitted to the doctor that she 
came to us for her health ; that as there are only two 
in the family, she thought there would be so little for 
her to do she could ride horseback and be out of doors 
most of the time ! What a nice arrangement it would 
have been — this fine lady sitting out on our lawn or 
riding one of our horses, and I in the kitchen prepar- 
ing the dinner, and then at the end of the month 
humbly begging her to accept a little check for thirty 
dollars ! 

We have an excellent soldier cook, but the care of 
that miserable girl falls upon me, and the terrible expe- 
rience we passed through at Dodge City has wholly 
unfitted me for anything of the kind. The second 
night we were there, about one o'clock, we were awak- 
ened by loud talking and sounds of people running; 
then shots were fired very near, and instantly there 
were screams of agony, " I'm shot! I'm shot! " from 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 121 

some person who was apparently coming across the 
street, and who fell directly underneath our window. 
We were in a little room on the second floor, and its 
one window was raised far up, which made it possible 
for us to hear the slightest sound or movement out- 
side. 

The shooting was kept up until after the man was 
dead, many of the bullets hitting the side of the hotel. 
It was simply maddening to have to stay in that room 
and be compelled to listen to the moans and death 
gurgle of that murdered man, and hear him cry, " Oh, 
my lassie, my poor lassie ! " as he did over and over 
again, until he could no longer speak. It seemed as 
though every time he tried to say one word, there was 
the report of a pistol. After he was really dead we 
could hear the fiends running off, and then other peo- 
ple came and carried the body away. 

The shooting altogether did not last longer than five 
or ten minutes, and at almost the first shot we could 
hear calls all over the wretched little town of " Vigi- 
lante! Vigilante! " and knew that the vigilantes were 
gathering, but before they could get together the mur- 
derous work had been finished. All the time there 
had been perfect silence throughout the hotel. The 
proprietor told us that he got up, but that it would 
have been certain death if he or anyone else had 
opened a door. 

Hal was on the floor in a corner of our room, and 
began to growl after the very first scream, and I was 
terrified all the time for fear he would go to the open 
window and attract the attention of those murderers 
below, who would undoubtedly have commenced firing 
at the window and perhaps have killed all of us. But 



122 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

the moans of the dying man frightened the dog awfully, 
and he crawled under the bed, where he sta3^ed during 
the rest of the horrible night. The cause of all the 
trouble seems to have been that a colored man under- 
took to carry in his wagon three or four men from 
Dodge City to Fort Dodge, a distance of five miles, 
but when he got out on the road a short distance he 
came to the conclusion, from their talk, that they were 
going to the post for evil purposes, and telling them 
that he would take them no farther, he turned his 
team around to come back home. On the way back 
the men must have threatened him, for when he got in 
town he drove to the house of some colored people 
who live on a corner across from the hotel and im- 
plored them to let him in, but they were afraid and 
refused to open the door, for by that time the men 
were shooting at him. 

The poor man ran across the street, leaving a trail 
of blood that streamed from his wounds, and was 
brutally killed under our window. Early the next 
morning, when we crossed the street to go to the 
cars, the darky's mule was lying on the ground, dead, 
near the corner of the hotel, and stuck on one long 
ear was the murdered man's hat. Soon after we 
reached Granada a telegram was received giving an 
account of the affair, and saying also that in less than 
one half hour after the train had passed through. 
Dodge City was surrounded by troops of United States 
cavalry from Fort Dodge, that the entire town was 
searched for the murderers, but that not even a trace 
of one had been discovered. 

When I got inside a car the morning after that 
awful, awful night, it was with a feeling that I was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 123 

leaving behind me all such things and that by evening 
I would be back once more at our old army home and 
away from hostile Indians, and hostile desperadoes 
too. But when I saw that servant girl with the pale, 
emaciated face and flushed cheeks, so ill she could 
barely sit up, my heart went down like lead and In- 
dians seemed small trials in comparison to what I 
saw ahead of me. 

Well, she will go in a few days, and then I can give 
the house some attention. The new furniture and 
china are all here, but nothing has been done in the 
way of getting settled. The whole coming back has 
been cruelly disappointing, and I am so tired and 
nervous I am afraid of my own shadow. So after a 
while I think I will go East for a few weeks, which 
I know you will be glad to hear. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 

August, 1873. 

WE have just come in from a drive to the Pur- 
gatoire with Colonel Knight behind his hand- 
some horses. It makes me sad, always, to go over 
that familiar road and to scenes that are so closely 
associated with my learning to ride and shoot when 
we were here before. The small tree that was my 
target is dead but still standing, and on it are several 
little pieces of the white paper bull's eyes that Faye 
and Lieutenant Baldwin tacked on it for me. 

We often see poor Tom. The post trader bought 
him after Lieutenant Baldwin's death, so the dear horse 
would always have good care and not be made to 
bring and carry for a cruel master. He wanders about 
as he chooses and is fat, but the coat that was once so 



124 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

silky and glossy is now dull and faded, and the horse 
looks spiritless and dejected. Poor Tom ! The grey- 
hound, Magic, still remembers their many, many hunts 
together when the horse would try to outrun the dog, 
and the hound often goes out to make him little visits, 
and the sight is pathetic. That big dog of the chap- 
lain's is still here, and how the good man can con- 
scientiously have him about, I cannot understand. 

Colonel Knight has two large dogs also, but they 
are shut in the stable most of the time to guard his 
pair of valuable horses. The horses are not particu- 
larly fast or spirited, but they are very beautiful and 
perfectly matched in color and gait. 

Ever since Hal has been old enough to run with a 
horse, he has always gone with me riding or driving. 
So the first time we drove with Colonel Knight I called 
Hal to go with us and he ran out of the house and 
over the fence with long joyful bounds, to be instantly 
pounced upon, and rolled over into the accquia by the 
two big dogs of Colonel Knight's that I had not even 
heard of ! Hal has splendid fighting blood and has 
never shown cowardice, but he is still a young dog 
and inexperienced, and no match for even one old 
fighter, and to have two notoriously savage, blood- 
thirsty beasts gnawing at him as though he was a 
bone was terrible. But Hal apparently never thought 
of running from them, and after the one howl of sur- 
prise gave his share of vicious growls and snaps. 
But the old dogs were protected by their heavy hair, 
while Hal's short coat and fine skin were easily torn. 

We all rushed to his rescue, for it looked as though 
he would be torn in pieces, and when I saw a long 
cut in his tender skin I was frantic. But finally the 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



125 



two black dogs were pulled off and Hal was dragged 
out of the ditch and back to the house, holding back 
and growling all the time, which showed plainly he 
was not satisfied with the way the affair had ended. 
The drive that day I did not enjoy ! 

Hal was not torn so deeply as to have unsightly 
scars, for which I was thankful. From that day on, 




'Hal 



has always gone with me riding or driving.' 



however, he not only hated those dogs, but disliked 
the man who cares for them, and seemed to consider 
him responsible for their very existence. And it was 
wonderful that he should recognize Cressy's step on 
the ground as he passed at the side of our house. Sev- 
eral times when he would be stretched out on the 
floor, to all appearances fast asleep, I have seen him 



126 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

open his eyes wide and growl when the man and dogs 
were passing, although it was perfectly impossible for 
him to have seen them. 

One morning abcait ten days ago when I was on the 
second floor, I heard an awful noise downstairs — 
whines, growls, and howls all so mingled together 
one would have thought there were a dozen dogs in 
the house. I ran down to see what could possibly be 
the matter, and found Hal at a window in the dining 
room that looked out on the back yard, every hair on 
his brindled back standing straight up and each white 
tooth showing. Looking out I saw that Turk, the 
more savage of the two black dogs, was in the yard 
and could not get out over the high board fence. 
Cressy was probably on guard that day, and sentry 
over the prisoners who had brought water. The dog 
must have followed him in and then managed to get 
left. 

Hal looked up at me, and for one instant kept per- 
fectly still, waiting to see what I would do. His big 
brown eyes were almost human in their beseeching, 
and plainly said, " You cannot have forgotten — you 
will surely let me out ! " And let him out I did. I 
opened the doors leading to the yard, and almost 
pushing me over he rushed to the black dog with 
great leaps and the most blood-curdling growls, jump- 
ing straight over him, then around him, then over him 
again and again, and so like a whirlwind, the poor 
black beast was soon crazy, for snap as fast as he 
might, it was ever at the clear, beautiful air. Hal was 
always just out of reach. 

After he had worried the dog all he wanted to Hal 
proceeded to business. With a greyhound trick, he 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 127 

swung himself around with great force and knocked 
the big dog flat upon the ground, and holding him 
down with his two paws he pulled out mouthful after 
mouthful of long hair, throwing it out of his mouth 
right and left. If the dog attempted to raise his big 
head Hal was quick to give a wicked snap that made 
the head fall down again. When I saw that Hal had 
actually conquered the dog and had proved that he 
was the splendid hound I had ever considered him to 
be, I told West to go out at once and separate them. 
But for the very first time West was slow — he went 
like a snail. It seemed that one of the dogs had 
snapped at his leg once, and I believe he would have 
been delighted if Hal had gnawed the dog flesh 
and bone. He pulled Hal in by his collar and opened 
the gate for Turk, and soon things were quite once 
more. 

All that day Hal's eyes were like stars, and one 
could almost see a grin on his mouth. He was ever 
on the alert, and would frequently look out on the 
yard, wag his tail and growl. The strangest thing 
about it all is, that not once since that morning has he 
paid the slightest attention to Cressy or the two dogs, 
except to growl a little when they have happened to 
meet. Turk must have told his companion about the 
fight, for he, too, finds attractions in another direc- 
tion when he sees Hal coming. 

Some of our friends have found pleasure in teasing 
me about my sporting taste, private arena, and so on, 
but I do not mind so very much, since the fight 
brought about peace, and proved that Hal has plenty 
of pluck. Those two Knight dogs are looked upon as 
savage wolves by every mother in the garrison, and 



128 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

when it is known that they are out, mothers and 
nurses run to gather in their small people. 

Hal has developed a taste for hunting that has been 
giving trouble lately, when he has run off with Magic 
and the other hounds. So now he is chained until after 
guard mounting, by which time the pack has gone. 
The signal officer of the department was here the 
other day when Faye and men from the company 
were out signaling, and after luncheon I told West 
to go out to him on Powder-Face and lead King, so 
he could ride the horse in, instead of coming in the 
wagon with the men. Late in the afternoon West 
came back and reported that he had been unable to 
find Faye, and then with much hesitation and chok- 
ing he told me that he had lost Hal ! 

He said that as they had gone up a little hill, they 
had surprised a small band of antelope that were 
grazing rather near on the other side, and that the 
hound started after them like a streak, pulling one 
down before they had crossed the lowland, and then, 
not being satisfied, he had raced on again after the 
band that had disappeared over a hill farther on. 
That was the last he saw of him. West said that he 
wanted to bring the dead antelojie to the post, but 
could not, as both horses objected to it. 

My heart was almost broken over the loss of my 
dog, and I started for my own room to indulge in a 
good cry when, as I passed the front door that was 
open, I happened to look out, and there, squatted 
down on the walk to the gate was Hal ! I ran out to 
pet him, but drew back in horror when I saw the con- 
dition he was in. His long nose and all of his white 
chest were covered with a thick coating of coarse an- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 129 

telope hair plastered in with dried blood. The dog 
seemed too tired to move, and sat there with a listless, 
far-away look that made me wish he could tell all 
about his hunt, and if he had lost the second poor little 
antelope. West almost danced from joy when he saw 
him, and lost no time in giving him a bath and putting 
him in his warm bed. Greyhounds are often great 
martyrs to rheumatism, and Deacon, one of the pack, 
will sometimes howl from pain after a hunt. And 
the howl of a greyhound is far-reaching and some- 
thing to be remembered. 

Very soon now I will be with you ! Faye has de- 
cided to close the house and live with the bachelors 
while I am away. This will be much more pleasant 
for him than stayinof here all alone. 



Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
October, 1873. 

THE trip out was tiresome and seemed endless, but 
nothing worth mentioning happened until I got 
to Granada, where Faye met me with an ambulance 
and escort wagon. It was after two o'clock in the 
morning when the train reached the station, and as 
it is the terminus of the road, every passenger left the 
car. I waited a minute for Faye to come in, but as 
he did not I went out also, feeling that something 
was wrong. 

Just as I stepped off the car, Mr. Davis, quarter- 
master's clerk, appeared and took my satchel, assuring 
me that Faye was right there waiting for me. This 
was so very unlike Faye's way of doing things, that at 
once I suspected that the real truth was not being told. 
But I went with him quickly through the little crowd, 



130 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

and on up the platform, and then I saw Faye. He 
was standing at one corner of the building all alone, 
and I recognized him instantly by the long light-blue 
overcoat and big campaign hat with brim turned up. 

And I saw also, standing on the corner of the plat- 
form in front of him, a soldier with rifle in hand, and 
on the end of it glistening in the moonlight was a long 
bayonet ! I had Hved with troops long enough to 
know that the bayonet would not be there unless the 
soldier was a sentry guarding somebody or something. 
I naturally turned toward Faye, but was held back 
by Mr. Davis, and that made me indignant, but Faye 
at once said quietly and in a voice just loud enough 
for me to hear, " Get in the ambulance and ask no 
questions ! " And still he did not move from the cor- 
ner. By this time I was terribly frightened and more 
and more puzzled. Drawn up close to the farther side 
of the platform was an ambulance, also an escort 
wagon, in which sat several soldiers, and handing my 
trunk checks to Mr. Davis, I got, into the ambulance, 
my teeth chattering as though I had a chill. 

The very instant the trunks were loaded Faye and 
the sentry came, and after ordering the corporal to 
keep his wagon and escort close to us, and telling me 
to drop down in the bottom of the ambulance if I 
heard a shot, Faye got on the ambulance also, but in 
front with the driver. Leaning forward, I saw that 
one revolver was in his hand and the other on the seat 
by his side. In this way, and in perfect silence, we 
rode through the town and until we were well out on 
the open plain, when we stopped just long enough 
for Faye to get inside, and a soldier from the wagon 
to take his seat by the driver. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 131 

Then Faye told me of what had occurred to make 
necessary all these precautions. He had come over 
from Fort Lyon the day before, and had been with 
Major Carroll, the depot quartermaster, during the af- 
ternoon and evening. The men had established a lit- 
tle camp just at the edge of the miserable town where 
the mules could be guarded and cared for. 

About nine o'clock Faye and Mr. Davis started 
out for a walk, but before they had gone far Faye 
remembered that he had left his pistols and cartridge 
belt on a desk in the quartermaster's office, and fear- 
ing they might be stolen they went back for them. 
He put the pistols on underneath his heavy overcoat, 
as the belt was quite too short to fasten outside. 

Well, he and IVIr. Davis walked along slowly in the 
bright moonlight past the many saloons and gambling 
places, never once thinking of danger, when suddenly 
from a dark passageway a voice said, " You are the 
man I want," and bang! went a pistol shot close to 
Faye's head — so close, in fact, that as he ducked his 
head down, when he saw the pistol pointed at him, 
the rammer slot struck his temple and cut a deep hole 
that at once bled profusely. Before Faye could get 
out one of his own pistols from underneath the long 
overcoat, another shot was fired, and then away 
skipped Mr. Davis, leaving Faye standing alone in 
the brilliant moonlight. As soon as Faye com- 
menced to shoot, his would-be assassin came out from 
the dark doorway and went slowly along the walk, 
taking good care, however, to keep himself well in the 
shadow of the buildings. 

They went on down the street shooting back and 
forth at each other, Faye wondering all the time why 



132 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

he could not hit the man. Once he got him in front of 
a restaurant window where there was a bright hght 
back of him, and, taking careful aim, he thought the 
affair could be ended right there, but the ball whizzed 
past the man and went crashing through the window 
and along the tables, sending broken china right and 
left. Finally their pistols were empty, and Faye drew 
out a second, at the sight of which the man started to 
run and disappeared in the shadows. 

As soon as the shooting ceased men came out from 
all sorts of places, and there was soon a little crowd 
around Faye, asking many questions, but he and 
Major Carroll went to a drug store, where his wounds 
could be dressed. For some time it was thought there 
must be a ball in the deep hole in his temple. When 
Faye had time to think he understood why he had 
(lone such poor shooting. He is an almost sure shot, 
but always holds his pistol in his left hand, and of 
course aims with his left eye. But that night his left 
eye was filled with blood the very first thing from the 
wound in his left temple, which forced him uncon- 
sciously to aim with his right eye, which accounts for 
the wild shots. 

The soldiers heard of the affair in camp, and sev- 
eral came up on a run and stood guard at the drug 
store. A rumor soon got around that Oliver had gone 
off to gather some of his friends, and they would soon 
be at the store to finish the work. Very soon, how- 
ever, a strange man came in, much excited, and said, 

" Lieutenant ! Oliver's pals are getting ready to at- 
tack you at the depot as the train comes in," and out 
he went. The train was due at two o'clock a. m., and 
this caused Faye four hours of anxiety. He learned 




10 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 135 

that the man who shot at him was " Billy Oliver," a 
horse thief and desperado of the worst type, and that 
he was the leader of a band of horse thieves that was 
then in town. To be threatened by men like those 
was bad enough in itself, but Faye knew that I would 
arrive on that train. That was the cause of so much 
caution when the train came in. There were several 
rough-looking men at the station, but if they had in- 
tended mischief, the long infantry rifles in the hands 
of drilled soldiers probably persuaded them to attend 
to their own afifairs. A man told the corporal, how- 
ever, that Oliver's friends had decided not to kill 
Faye at the station, but had gone out on horseback 
to meet him on the road. This was certainly misery 
prolonged. 

The mules were driven through the town at an or- 
dinary gait, but when we got on the plain they 
were put at a run, and for miles we came at that pace. 
The little black shaved-tails pulled the ambulance, and 
I think that for once they had enough run. The 
moonlight was wonderfully bright, and for a long dis- 
tance objects could be seen, and bunches of sage bush 
and Spanish bayonet took the forms of horsemen, and 
naturally I saw danger in every little thing we passed. 

One thing occurred that night that deserves men- 
tioning. Some one told the soldiers that Oliver was 
hidden in a certain house, and one of them, a private, 
started off without leave, and all alone for that house. 
When he got there the entire building was dark, not 
a light in it, except that of the moon which streamed in 
through two small windows. But the gritty soldier 
went boldly in and searched every little room and 
every little corner, even the cellar, but not a living 



136 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

thing was found. It may have been brave, but it was 
a dreadful thing for the trooper to do, for he so easily 
could have been murdered in the darkness, and Faye 
and the soldiers never have known what had become 
of him. Colonel Bissell declares that the man shall 
be made a corporal upon the first vacancy. 

The man Oliver was in the jail at Las Animas last 
summer for stealing horses. The old jail was very 
shaky, and while it was being made more secure, he 
and another man — a wife murderer — were brought to 
the guardhouse at this post. They finally took them 
back, and Oliver promptly made his escape, and the 
sheriff had actually been afraid to re-arrest him. We 
have all begged Faye to get out a warrant for the 
man, but he says it would simply be a farce, that the 
sheriff would pay no attention to it. The whole left 
side of Faye's face is badly swollen and very painful, 
and the wound in his ankle compels him to use a cane. 
Just how the man managed to shoot Faye in the 
ankle no one seems to understand. 

Granada must be a terrible place ! The very after- 
noon Faye was there a Mexican was murdered in the 
main street, but not the slightest attention was paid 
to the shooting — everything went right on as though 
it was an everyday occurrence. The few respectable 
people are afraid even to try to keep order. 

Dodge City used to be that way and there was a 
reign of terror in the town, until finally the twelve 
organized vigilantes became desperate and took af- 
fairs in their own hands. They notified six of the 
leading desperadoes that they must be out of the place 
by a certain day and hour. Four went, but two were 
defiant and remained. When the specified hour had 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 137 

passed, twelve double-barreled shotguns were loaded 
with buckshot, and m a body the vigilantes hunted 
these men down as they would mad dogs and riddled 
each one through and through with the big shot ! It 
was an awful thing to do, but it seems to have been 
absolutely necessary and the only way of establish- 
ing law and order. Our friends at Fort Dodge tell us 
that the place is now quite decent, and that a man can 
safely walk in the streets without pistols and a belt 
full of cartridges. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
October, 1873. 

ONE naturally looks for all sorts of thrilling experi- 
ences when out on the frontier, but to have men 
and things mix themselves up in a maddening way 
in one's very own house, as has recently been done 
in mine, is something not usually counted upon. To 
begin with, Mrs. Rae is with us, and her coming 
was not only most unlooked for up to two days ago, 
but through a wretched mistake in a telegram she got 
here just twenty-four hours before we thought she 
would arrive. Ordinarily this would have been a de- 
lightful surprise, but, unfortunately, things had begun 
to " mix! " 

Faye had suffered so much from the wound in his 
head that very little attention had been given the house 
since my return from the East, therefore it was not 
in the very best of order. It was closed during my 
two months' absence, as Faye had lived down with 
the bachelors. The very day that Mrs. Rae came 
the quartermaster had sent a man to repair one of the 
chimneys, and plaster and dirt had been left in my 
room, the one I had intended Mrs. Rae to occupy. 



138 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

And then, to make matters just as bad as possible, 
there was a sand storm late in the afternoon that had, 
of course, sifted dust over all things. 

But this was not all ! My nerves had not recovered 
from the shock at Granada, and had given out entirely 
that day just before dinner, and had sent me to bed 
with an uncomfortable chill. Still, I was not disheart- 
ened. Before I went East many things had been put 
away, but West had unpacked and polished the silver 
several days before, and the glass was shining and 
the china closets in perfect order, all of which had 
been attended to with my own hands. Besides, the 
wife of one of the sergeants was to come the next 
morning to dust and clean the little house from top to 
bottom, so there was really nothing to worry about, 
as everything would be in order long before time for 
the stage to arrive that would bring Mrs. Rae. 

But after the chill came a fever, and with the fever 
came dreams, most disturbing dreams, in which were 
sounds of crunching gravel, then far-away voices — 
voices that I seemed to have heard in another world. 
A door was opened, and then — oh ! how can I ever 
tell you — in the hall came Faye's mother ! By that 
time dreams had ceased, and it was cruel reality that 
had to be faced, and even now I wonder how I lived 
through the misery of that moment — the longing to 
throw myself out of the window, jump in the river, 
do anything, in fact, but face the mortification of 
having her see the awful condition of her son's house ! 

Her son's house — that was just it. I did not care 
at all for myself, my only thought was for Faye 
whose mother might find cause to pify him for the de- 
linquencies of his wife! First impressions are indel- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 139 

ible, and it would be difficult to convince Mrs. Rae 
ever that the house was not always dusty and untidy. 
How could she know that with pride I had ever seen 
that our house, however rough it might have been, 
was clean and cheerful. And of what use would it be 
to arrange things attractively now? She would be jus- 
tified in supposing that it was only in its company 
dress. 

I was weak and dizzy from fever and a sick heart, 
but I managed to get dressed and go down to do the 
best I could. West prepared a little supper, and we 
made things as comfortable as possible, considering the 
state of affairs. Mrs. Rae was most lovely about 
everything — said she understood it all. But that 
could not be, not until she had seen one of our sand 
storms, from the dust of which it is impossible to 
protect a thing. I have been wishing for a storm ever 
since, so Mrs. Rae could see that I was not respon- 
sible for the condition of things that night. 

Now this was not all — far, far from it. On the 
way out in the cars, Mrs. Rae met the colonel of 
the regiment — a real colonel, who is called a colonel, 
too — who was also on his way to this post, and with 
him was Lieutenant Whittemore, a classmate of 
Faye's. Colonel Fitz-James was very courteous to 
Mrs. Rae, and when they reached Kit Carson he in- 
sisted upon her coming over with him in the ambu- 
lance that had been sent to meet him. This was very 
much more comfortable than riding in the old stage, 
so she gladly accepted, and to show her appreciation of 
the kindness, she invited the colonel, also Lieutenant 
Whittemore, to dine with us the following evening ! 

Yes, there is still more, for it so happens that Colonel 



I40 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Fitz-James is known to be an epicure, to be fussy 
and finical about all things pertaining to the table, and 
what is worse takes no pains to disguise it, and in 
consequence is considered an undesirable dinner 
guest by the most experienced housekeepers in the 
regiment. All this I had often heard, and recalled 
every word during the long hours of that night as I 
was making plans for the coming day. The combina- 
tion in its entirety could not have been more formid- 
able. There was Faye's mother, a splendid house- 
keeper — her very first day in our house. His colonel 
and an abnormally sensitive palate — his very first meet- 
ing with each of us. His classmate, a young man of 
much wealth — a perfect stranger to me. A soldier 
cook, willing, and a very good waiter, but only a 
plain everyday cook ; certainly not a maker of dainty 
dishes for a dinner party. And my own experiences 
in housekeeping had been limited to log huts in out- 
landish places. 

Every little thing for that dinner had to be pre- 
pared in our own house. There was no obliging ca- 
terer around the corner where a salad, an ice, and 
other things could be hurriedly ordered ; not even one 
little market to go to for fish, flesh, or fowl; only the 
sutler's store, where their greatest dainty is " cove " 
oysters ! Fortunately there were some young grouse 
in the house which I had saved for Mrs. Rae and 
which were just right for the table, and those West 
could cook perfectly. 

So with a head buzzing from quinine T went down 
in the morning, and with stubborn determination that 
the dinner should be a success, I proceeded to carry 
out the plans I had decided upon during the night. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 141 

The house was put in splendid order and the dinner 
prepared, and Colonel Knight was invited to join us. 
I attempted only the dishes that could be served well 
— nothing fancy or difficult — and the sergeant's wife 
remained to assist West in the kitchen. It all passed 
off pleasantly and most satisfactorily, and Colonel 
Fitz-James could not have been more agreeable, al- 
though he looked long and sharply at the soldier when 
he first appeared in the dining room. But he said 
not a word; perhaps he concluded it must be soldier 
or no dinner. I have been told several nice things 
he said about that distracting dinner before leaving 
the garrison. But it all matters little to me now, 
since it was not found necessary to take me to a luna- 
tic asylum ! 

Mrs. Rae saw in a paper that Faye had been 
shot by a desperado, and was naturally much 
alarmed, so she sent a telegram to learn what had 
happened, and in reply Faye telegraphed for her to 
come out, and fearing that he must be very ill she 
left Boston that very night. But we understood that 
she would start the next day, and this misinterpreta- 
tion caused my undoing — that and the sand storm. 

That man Oliver has at last been arrested and is 
now in the jail at Las Animas, chained with another 
man — a murderer — to a post in the dark cellar. This 
is because he has so many times threatened the jailer. 
He says that some day he will get out, and then his 
first act will be to kill the keeper, and the next to kill 
Lieutenant Rae. He also declares that Faye kicked 
him when he was in the guardhouse at the post. Of 
course anyone with a knowledge of military discipline 
would know this assertion to be false, for if Faye had 



142 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

done such a thing as that, he might have been court- 
martialed. 

The sheriff was actually afraid to make the arrest 
the first time he went over, because so many of Oli- 
ver's friends were in town, and so he came back with- 
out him, although he saw him several times. The sec- 
ond trip, however, Oliver was taken off guard and 
was handcuffed and out of the town before he had a 
chance to rally his friends to his assistance. He was 
brought to Las Animas during the night to avoid any 
possibility of a lynching. The residents of the little 
town are full of indignation that the man should have 
attempted to kill an officer of this garrison. He is a 
horse thief and desperado, and made his escape from 
their jail several months back, so altogether they con- 
sider that the country can very well do without him. 
I think so, too, and wish every hour in the day that 
the sheriff had been less cautious. Oliver cannot be 
tried until next May, when the general court meets, 
and I am greatly distressed over this fact, for the jail 
is old and most insecure, and he may get out at any 
time. The fear and dread of him is on my mind day 
and night. 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
December, 1873. 

EVERYONE in the garrison seems to be more or 
less in a state of collapse ! The ba! masque is 
over, the guests have departed, and all that is left to 
us now are the recollections of a delightful party that 
gave full return for our efforts to have it a success. 

We did not dream that so many invitations would 
be accepted at far-away posts, that parties would come 
from Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, Fort Dodge, and 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 143 

Fort Wallace, for a long ambulance ride was neces- 
sary from each place. But we knew of their coming 
in time to make preparations for all, so there was no 
confusion or embarrassment. Every house on the 
officers' line was filled to overflowing and scarcely a 
corner left vacant. 

The new hospital was simply perfect for an elabo- 
rate entertainment. The large ward made a grand 
ballroom, the corridors were charming for promenad- 
ing, and, yes, flirting, the dining room and kitchen 
perfect for the supper, and the office and other small 
rooms were a nice size for cloak rooms. Of course 
each one of these rooms, big and small, had to be fur- 
nished. In each dressing room was a toilet table fitted 
out with every little article that might possibly be 
needed during the evening, both before and after the 
removal of masks. All this necessitated much plan- 
ning, an immense amount of work, and the stripping 
of our own houses. But there were a good many of 
us, and the soldiers were cheerful assistants. I was 
on the supper committee, which really dwindled down 
to a committee of one at the very last, for I was left 
alone to put the finishing touches to the tables and to 
attend to other things. The vain creatures seemed 
more interested in their own toilets, and went home to 
beautify themselves. 

The commanding officer kept one eye, and the quar- 
termaster about a dozen eyes upon us while we were 
decorating, to see that no injury was done to the new 
building. But that watchfulness was unnecessary, for 
the many high windows made the fastening of flags 
an easy matter, as we draped them from the casing of 
one window to the casing of the next, which covered 



144 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

much of the cold, white walls and gave an air of 
warmth and cheeriness to the rooms. Accoutrements 
were hung everywhere, every bit of brass shining as 
only an enlisted man can make it shine, and the long in- 
fantry rifles with fixed bayonets were " stacked " where- 
ever they would not interfere with the dancing. 

Much of the supper came from Kansas City — that 
is, the celery, fowls, and material for little cakes, ices, 
and so on — and the orchestra consisted of six musi- 
cians from the regimental band at Fort Riley. The 
floor of the ballroom was waxed perfectly, but it is 
hoped by some of us that much of the lightning will 
be taken from it before the hospital cots and attendants 
are moved in that ward. 

Everybody was en masque and almost everyone 
wore fancy dress and some of the costumes were beau- 
tiful. The most striking figure in the rooms, perhaps, 
was Lieutenant Alden, who represented Death! He 
is very tall and very slender, and he had on a skin- 
tight suit of dark-brown drilling, painted from crown 
to toe with thick white paint to represent the skeleton 
of a human being ; even the mask that covered the 
entire head was perfect as a skull. The illusion was 
a great success, but it made one shiver to see the awful 
thing walking about, the grinning skull towering over 
the heads of the tallest. And ever at its side was a red 
devil, also tall, and sO' thin one wondered what held 
the bones together. This red thing had a long tail. 
The devil was Lieutenant Perkins, of course. 

Faye and Doctor Dent were dressed precisely alike, 
as sailors, the doctor even wearing a pair of Faye's 
shoes. They had been very sly about the twin arrange- 
ment, which was really splendid, for they are just 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 145 

about the same size and have hair very much the same 
color. But smart as they were, I recognized Faye at 
once. The idea of anyone thinking I would not know 
him! 

We had queens and milkmaids and flower girls ga- 
lore, and black starry nights and silvery days, and all 
sorts of things, many of them very elegant. My old 
yellow silk, the two black lace flounces you gave me, 
and a real Spanish mantilla that Mrs. Rae happened 
to have with her, made a handsome costume for me as 
a Spanish lady. I wore almost all the jewelry in 
the house ; every piece of my own small amount and 
much of Mrs. Rae's, the nicest of all having been 
a pair of very large old-fashioned " hoop " earrings, 
set all around with brilliants. My comb was a home 
product, very showy, but better left to the imagination. 

The dancing commenced at nine o'clock, and at 
twelve supper was served, when we unmasked, and 
after supper we danced again and kept on dancing 
until five o'clock ! Even then a few of us would have 
been willing to begin all over, for when again 
could we have such a ballroom with perfect floor and 
such excellent music to dance by? But with the new 
day came a new light and all was changed^ much like 
the change of a ballet with a new calcium light, only 
ours was not beautifying, but most trying to tired, 
painted faces ; and seeing each other we decided that 
we could not get home too fast. In a few days the 
hospital will be turned over to the post-surgeon, 
and the beautiful ward will be filled with iron cots and 
sick soldiers, and instead of delicate perfumes, the odor 
of nauseous drugs will pervade every place. 

I have been too busy to ride during the past week, 



146 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

but am going out this afternoon with the chaplain's 
young daughter, who is a fearless rider, although only 
fourteen. King is very handsome now and his gait 
delightful, but he still requires most careful manage- 
ment. He ran away with me the other day, starting 
with those three tremendous strides, but we were 
out on a level and straight road, so nothing went 
wrong. All there was for me to do was to keep my 
seat. Lieutenant Perkins and Miss Campbell were a 
mile or more ahead of us, and after he had passed 
them he came down to a trot, evidently flattering him- 
self that he had won a race, and that nothing further 
was expected of him. 

He jumps the cavalry hurdles beautifully — goes 
over like a deer, Hal always following directly back 
of him. Whatever a horse does that dog wants to do 
also. Last spring, when we came up from Camp Sup- 
ply, he actually tried to eat the corn that dropped from 
King's mouth as he was getting his supper one night 
in camp. He has scarcely noticed Powder-Face since 
the very day King was sent to me, but became devoted 
to the new horse at once. I wonder if he could have 
seen that the new horse was the faster of the two ! 



Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
May, 1874. 

THERE is such good news to send you to-day I 
can hardly write it fast enough. The Territorial 
Court has been in session, and yesterday that horse 
thief, Billy Oliver, was tried and sentenced to ten 
years' imprisonment in the penitentiary! The sheriff 
and a posse started for Canon City this morning with 
him and another prisoner, and I hope that he will not 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 147 

make his escape on the way over. The sheriff told 
Faye confidentially the route he intended to take, 
which is not at all the one he is supposed to be going 
over, and threw out strong hints to the effect that if 
he wanted to put an end to the man's vicious career 
there would be no interference from him (the sheriff) 
or his posse. He even told Faye of a lonesome spot 
where it could be accomplished easily and safely! 

This was a strange thing for a sheriff to do, even 
in this country of desperadoes, and shows what a fiend 
he considers Oliver to be. He said that the man was 
the leader of a gang of the lowest and boldest type 
of villains, and that even now it would be safer to have 
him out of the way. Sheriffs are afraid of these men, 
and do not like to be obliged to arrest them. 

The day of the trial, and as Faye was about to go 
to the court room, a corporal came to the house and 
told him that he had just come from Las Animas, 
where he had heard from a reliable source that many 
of Oliver's friends were in the town, and that it was 
their intention to kill Faye as he came in the court 
room. He even described the man who was to do 
the dreadful work, and he told Faye that if he went 
over without an escort he would certainly be killed. 

This was simply maddening, and I begged Faye 
to ask for a guard, but he would not, insisting that 
there was not the least danger, that even a desperado 
would not dare shoot an army officer in Las Animas 
in a public place, for he knew he would be hung the 
next moment. That was all very well, but it seemed 
to me that it would be better to guard against the 
murder itself rather than think of what would be done 
to the murderer. I knew that the corporal would 



148 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

never have come to the house if he had not heard much 
that was alarming. 

So Faye went over without a guard, but did con- 
descend to wear his revolvers. He says that the first 
thing he saw as he entered the court room were six 
big, brawny cavalrymen, each one a picked man, se- 
lected for bravery and determination. Of course each 
trooper was armed with large government revolvers 
and a belt full of cartridges. He also saw that they 
were sitting near, and where they could watch every 
move of a man who answered precisely to the cor- 
poral's description, and as he passed on up through 
the crowd he almost touched him. His hair was long 
and hung down on his shoulders aboi;t a face that was 
villainous, and he was " armed to the teeth." There 
were other tough-looking men seated near this man, 
each one armed also. 

Colonel Bissell had heard of the threat to kill Faye, 
and ordered a corporal, the very man who searched 
so bravely through the dark house for Oliver at Gra- 
nada, and five privates to the court, with instructions 
to shoot at once the first and every man who made 
the slightest move to harm Faye ! Those men knew 
very well what the soldiers were there for, and I im- 
agine that after one look at their weather-beaten faces, 
which told of many an Indian campaign, the villains 
decided that it would be better to keep quiet and let 
Oliver manage his own affairs. 

A sergeant and one or two privates were summoned 
by Oliver to give testimony against Faye, but each 
one told the same story, and said most emphatically 
that Faye had not done more than speak to the man 
in the line of duty, and as any offtcer would have 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 149 

done. Directly after guard mounting, and as the new 
guard marches up to the guardhouse, the old guard 
is ordered out, also the prisoners, and the prisoners 
stand in the middle of the line with soldiers at each 
end, and every man, enlisted man and prisoner, is 
required to stand up straight and in line. It was at 
one of these times that Oliver claimed that Faye 
kicked him, when he was officer of the day. Faye 
and Major Til ford say that the man was slouching, 
and Faye told him to stand up and take his hands out 
of his pockets. A small thing to murder an officer for, 
but I imagine that any sort of discipline to a man of 
his character was most distasteful. 

Of course Faye left the court room as soon as his 
testimony had been given. When the sentence was 
pronounced the judge requested all visitors to remain 
seated until after the prisoner had been removed, which 
showed that he was a little afraid of trouble, and knew 
the bitter feeling against the horse thief in the town. 
Several girls and young officers from the post were 
outside in an ambulance, and they commenced to cheer 
when told of the sentence, but the judge hurried a 
messenger out to them with a request that they make 
no demonstration whatever. He is a fearless and just 
judge, and it is a wonder that desperadoes have not 
killed him long ago. 

Perhaps now I can have a little rest from the terrible 
fear that has been ever with me day and night during 
the whole winter, that Oliver would escape from the 
old jail and carry out his threat of double murder. He 
had made his escape once, and I feared that he might 
get out again. But that post and chain must have 
been very securely fixed down in that cellar. 
11 



I50 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, 
June, 1874. 

BY this time you have my letter telling- you that the 
regiment has been ordered to the Department of 
the Gulf. Since then we have heard that it is to go 
directly to Holly Springs, Mississippi, for the summer, 
where a large camp is to be established. Just im- 
agine what the suffering will be, to go from this 
dry climate to the humidity of the South, and from 
cool, thick-walled adobe buildings to hot, glary tents 
in the midst of summer heat ! We will reach Holly 
Springs about the Fourth of July. Faye's allowance 
for baggage hardly carries more than trunks and a 
few chests of house linen and silver, so we are taking 
very few things with us. It is better to give them 
away than to pay for their transportation such a long 
distance. 

Both horses have been sold and beautiful King has 
gone. The young man who bought him was a 
stranger here, and knew absolutely nothing about the 
horse except what some one in Las Animas had told 
him. He rode him around the yard only once, and then 
jumping down, pulled from his pocket a fat roll of 
bills, counted off the amount for horse, saddle, and 
bridle, and then, without saying one word more than 
a curt " good morning," he mounted the horse again 
and rode out of the yard and away. I saw the whole 
transaction from a window — saw it as well as hot, 
blinding tears would permit. Faye thinks the man 
might have been a fugitive and wanted a fast horse 
to get him out of the country. We learned not long 
ago, you know, that King had been an Indian race 
pony owned by a half-breed named Bent. He sent 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 151 

word from Camp Supply that I was welcome to the 
horse if I could ride him ! The chaplain has bought 
Powder-Face, and I am to keep him as long as we are 
here. Hal will go with us, for I cannot give up that 
dog and horses, too. 

Speaking of Hal reminds me of the awful thing 
that occurred here a few days ago. I have written 
often of the pack of beautiful greyhounds owned by 
the cavalry officers, and of the splendid record of 
Magic — Hal's father — as a hunter, and how the dog 
was loved by Lieutenant Baldwin next to his horse. 

But unless the dogs were taken on frequent hunts, 
they would steal off on their own account and often 
be away a whole day, perhaps until after dark. The 
other day they went off this way, and in the afternoon, 
as Lieutenant Alden was riding along by the river, 
he came to a scene that made him positively ill. On 
the ground close to the water was the carcass of a 
calf, which had evidently been filled with poison for 
wolves, and near it on the bank lay Magic, Deacon, 
Dixie, and other hounds, all dead or dying ! Blue has 
bad teeth and was still gnawing at the meat, and there- 
fore had not been to the water, which causes almost 
instant death in cases of poisoning by wolf meat. 

As soon as Lieutenant Alden saw that the other 
dogs were past doing for, he hurried on to the post 
with Blue, and with great difficulty saved her life. So 
Hal and his mother are sole survivors of the grey- 
hounds that have been known at many of the frontier 
posts as fearless and tireless hunters, and plucky 
fighters when forced to fight. Greyhounds will rarely 
seek a fight, a trait that sometimes fools other dogs 
and brings them to their Waterloo. When Lieutenant 



152 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Alden told me of the death of the dogs, tears came in 
his eyes as he said, " I have shared my bed with old 
Magic many a time ! " And how those dogs will be 
missed at the bachelor quarters ! When we came here 
last summer, I was afraid that the old hounds would 
pounce upon Hal, but instead of that they were most 
friendly and seemed to know he was one of them — 
a wanderer returned. 



St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, 
September, 1877. 

LIFE in the Army is certainly full of surprises ! 
At Pass Christian yesterday morning, Faye 
and I were sitting on the veranda reading the papers 
in an indifferent sort of way, when suddenly Faye 
jumped up and said, " The Third has been ordered to 
Montana Territory ! " At first I could not believe 
him — it seemed so improbable that troops would be 
sent to such a cold climate at this season of the year, 
and besides, most of the regiment is at Pittsburg just 
now because of the great coal strike. But there in 
the Picayune was the little paragraph of half a dozen 
lines that was to affect our lives for years to come, 
and which had the immediate power to change our 
condition of indolent content, into one of the greatest 
activity and excitement ! 

Faye went at once to the telegraph office and by 
wire gave up the remainder of his leave, and also asked 
the regimental adjutant if transportation was being 
provided for officers' families. The distance is so 
great, and the Indians have been so hostile in Mon- 
tana during the past two years, that we thought fam- 
ilies possibly would not be permitted to go. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 153 

After luncheon we packed the trunks, carefully 
separating things so there would be no necessity for 
repacking if I could not go, and I can assure you that 
many an article was folded down damp with hot tears 
— the very uncertainty was so trying. In the evening 
we went around to say " good-by " to a few of the 
friends who have been so cordial and hospitable dur- 
ing the summer. Early this morning we came from 
Pass Christian, and soon after we got here telegrams 
came for Faye, one ordering him to proceed to Pitts- 
burg and report for duty, and another saying that 
officers' families may accompany the regiment. This 
was glorious news to me. The fear and dread of 
having to be left behind had made me really ill — and 
what would have become of me if it had actually 
come to pass I cannot imagine. I can go — that is all 
sufficient for the present, and we expect to leave for 
Pittsburg this evening at nine o'clock. 

The late start gives us a long day here with noth- 
ing to do. After a while, when it is not quite so hot 
outside, we are going out to take a farewell look at 
some of our old haunts. Our friends are all out of 
the city, and Jackson Barracks is too far away for 
such a warm day — besides, there is no one there now 
that we know. 

It seems quite natural to be in this dear old hotel, 
where all during the past winter our " Army and 
Navy Club " cotillons were danced every two weeks. 
And they were such beautiful affairs, with two splen- 
did military orchestras to furnish the music, one for 
the dancing and one to give choice selections in be- 
tween the figures. We will carry with us to the snow 
and ice of the Rocky Mountains many, many delight- 



154 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

fill memories of New Orleans, where the French ele- 
ment gives a charm to everything. The Marcli-Gras 
parades, in which the regiment has each year taken 
such a prominent part — the courtly Rex balls — the 
balls of Comus — the delightful Creole balls in Griine- 
wald Hall — the stately and exclusive balls of the 
Washington Artillery in their own splendid hall — the 
charming dancing receptions on the ironclad monitor 
Canoniciis, also the war ship Plymouth, where we 
were almost afraid to step, things were so immaculate 
and shiny — and then our own pretty army fetes at 
Jackson Barracks — regimental headquarters — each 
and all will be remembered, ever with the keenest 
pleasure. 

But the event in the South that has made the deep- 
est impression of all occurred at Vicksburg, where 
for three weeks we lived in the same house, en famille 
and intimately, with Jefferson Davis ! I consider that 
to have been a really wonderful experience. You 
probably can recall a little of what I wrote you at 
the time — how we were boarding with his niece in her 
splendid home when he came to visit her. 

I remember so well the day he arrived. He knew, 
of course, that an army officer was in the house, and 
Mrs. Porterfield had told us of his coming, so the 
meeting was not unexpected. Still, when we went 
down to dinner that night I was almost shivering 
from nervousness, although the air was excessively 
warm. I was so afraid of something unpleasant com- 
ing up, for although Mrs. Porterfield and her daugh- 
ter were women of culture and refinement, they were 
also rebels to the very quick, and never failed at any 
time to remind one that their uncle was " President " 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 155 

Davis ! And then, as we went in the large dining 
room, Faye in his very bluest, shiniest uniform, 
looked as if he might be Uncle Sam himself. 

But there was nothing to fear — nothing whatever. 
A tall, thin old man came forward with Mrs. Porter- 
field to meet us — a courtly gentleman of the old 
Southern school — who, apparently, had never heard 
of the Civil War, and who, if he noticed the blue uni- 
form at all, did not take the slightest interest in what 
it represented. His composure was really disappoint- 
ing ! After greeting me with grave dignity, he turned 
to Faye and grasped his hand firmly and cordially, 
the whole expression of his face softening just a lit- 
tle. I have always thought that he was deeply moved 
by once again seeing the Federal Blue under such 
friendly circumstances, and that old memories came 
surging back, bringing with them the almost forgot- 
ten love and respect for the Academy — a love that 
every graduate takes to his grave, whether his life be 
one of honor or of disgrace. 

One could very easily have become sentimental, and 
fancied that he was Old West Point, misled and 
broken in spirit, admitting in dignified silence his de- 
feat and disgrace to Young West Point, who, with 
Uncle Sam's shoulder straps and brass buttons, could 
be generously oblivious to the misguidance and treason 
of the other. We wondered many times if Jefferson 
Davis regretted his life. He certainly could not have 
been satisfied with it. 

There was more in that meeting than a stranger 
would have known of. In the splendid dining room 
where we sat, which was forty feet in length and 
floored with tiles of Italian marble, as was the entire 



156 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

large basement, it was impossible not to notice the 
unpainted casing of one side of a window, and also 
the two immense patches of common gray plaster on 
the beautifully frescoed walls, which covered holes 
made by a piece of shell that had crashed through the 
house during the siege of Vicksburg. The shell itself 
had exploded outside near the servants' quarters. 

Then, again, every warm evening after dinner, dur- 
ing the time he was at the house, Jefferson Davis and 
Faye would sit out on the grand, marble porch and 
smoke and tell of little incidents that had occurred 
at West Point when each had been a cadet there. At 
some of these times they would almost touch what 
was left of a massive pillar at one end, that had also 
been shattered and cracked by pieces of shell from 
U. S. gunboats, one piece being still imbedded in the 
white marble. 

For Jefferson Davis knew that Faye's father was 
an officer in the Navy, and that he had bravely and 
boldly done his very best toward the undoing of the 
Confederacy ; and by his never-failing, polished cour- 
tesy to that father's son — even when sitting by pieces 
of shell and patched-up walls — the President of the 
Confederacy set an example of dignified self-restraint, 
that many a Southern man and woman — particularly 
woman — would do well to follow. 

For in these days of reconstruction officers and 
their families are not always popular. But at Pass 
Christian this summer we have received the most 
hospitable, thoughtful attention, and never once by 
word or deed were we reminded that we were " Yank- 
Tanks," as was the case at Holly Springs the first 
vear we were there. However, we did some fine re- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 157 

construction business for Uncle Sam right there with 
those pert Mississippi girls — two of whom were in 
a short time so thoroughly reconstructed that they 
joined his forces " for better or for worse! " 

The social life during the three years we have been 
in the South has most of the time been charming, but 
the service for ofificers has often been most distaste- 
ful. Many times they have been called upon to escort 
and protect carpetbag politicians of a very low type 
of manhood — men who could never command one 
honest vote at their own homes in the North. Faye's 
company has been moved twenty-one times since we 
came from Colorado three years ago, and almost 
every time it was at the request of those unprincipled 
carpetbaggers. These moves did not always disturb 
us, however, as during most of the time Faye has 
been adjutant general of the District of Baton Rouge, 
and this kept us at Baton Rouge, but during the past 
winter we have been in New Orleans. 

Several old Creole families whose acquaintance we 
made in the city last winter, have charming old-style 
Southern homes at Pass Christian, where we have 
ever been cordially welcomed. It was a common oc- 
currence for me to chaperon their daughters to in- 
formal dances at the different cottages along the 
beach, and on moonlight sailing parties on Mr. Payne's 
beautiful yacht, and then, during the entire summer, 
from the time we first got there, I have been captain 
of one side of a croquet team, Mr. Payne having been 
captain of the other. The croquet part was, of course, 
the result of Major Borden's patient and exacting 
teaching at Baton Rouge. 

Mentioning Baton Rouge reminds me of my dear 



158 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

dog that was there almost a year with the hospital 
steward. He is now with the company at Mount Ver- 
non Barracks, Alabama, and Faye has telegraphed 
the sergeant to see that he is taken to Pittsburg with 
the company. 

We are going out now, first of all to Michaud's for 
some of his delicious biscuit glace! Our city friends 
are all away still, so there will be nothing for us to 
do but wander around, potir passer le temps until we 
go to the station. 

MONONGAHELA HoUSE, 

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
September, 1877. 

ONCE again we have our trunks packed for the 
long trip to Montana, and this time I think we 
will go, as the special train that is to take us is now 
at the station, and baggage of the regiment is being 
hurriedly loaded. Word came this morning that the 
regiment would start to-night, so it seems that at last 
General Sherman has gained his point. For three long 
weeks we have been kept here in suspense — packing 
and then unpacking — one day we were to go, the next 
we were not to go, while the commanding general and 
the division commander were playing " tug of war " 
with us. 

The trip will be long and very expensive, and we 
go from a hot climate to a cold one at a season when 
the immediate purchase of warm clothing is impera- 
tive, and with all this unexpected expense we have 
been forced to pay big hotel bills for weeks, just be- 
cause of a disagreement between two generals that 
should have been settled in one day. Money is very 
precious to the poor Army at present, too, for not one 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 159 

dollar has been paid to officers or enlisted men for 
over three months ! How officers with large families 
can possibly manage this move I do not see — sell their 
pay accounts I expect, and then be court martialed for 
having done so. 

Congress failed to pass the army appropriation bill 
before it adjourned, consequently no money can be 
paid to the Army until the next session ! Yet the Army 
is expected to go along just the same, promptly pay 
Uncle Sam himself all commissary and quartermaster 
bills at the end of each month, and without one little 
grumble do his bidding, no matter what the extra 
expense may be. I wonder what the wise men of 
Congress, who were too weary to take up the bill 
before going to their comfortable homes — I wonder 
what they would do if the Army as a body would say, 
" We are tired, Uncle, dear, and are going home for 
the summer to rest. You will have to get along with- 
out us and manage the Indians and strikers the best 
way you can." This would be about as sensible as 
forcing the Army to be paupers for months, and then 
ordering regiments from East to West and South 
to North. Of course many families will be com- 
pelled to remain back, that might otherwise have 
gone. 

We are taking out a young colored man we brought 
up with us from Holly Springs. He has been at the 
arsenal since we have been here, and Hal has been 
with him. It is over one year since the dog saw 
me, and I am almost afraid he will not know me to- 
night at the station. Before we left Pass Christian 
Faye telegraphed the sergeant to bring Hal with the 
company and purchase necessary food for him on the 



i6o ARMY LETTERS EROM 

way up. So, when the company got here, bills were 
presented by several of the men, who claimed to have 
bought meat for the dog, the sum total of which was 
nine dollars for the two days ! We were so pleased 
to know that Hal had been so well cared for. But the 
soldiers were welcome to the money and more with 
it, for we were so glad to have the dog with us again, 
safe and well. 

We have quite a Rae family now — Faye and I 
— a darky, a greyhound, and one small gray squirrel ! 
It will be a hard trip for Billie, but I have made for 
him a little ribbon collar and sewed securely to it a 
long tape which makes a fine " picket rope " that can 
be tied to various things in various places, and in this 
way he can be picketed and yet receive exercise and 
air. 

We are to go almost straight north from the rail- 
road for a distance of over four hundred miles, and 
of course this will take several weeks under the most 
favorable conditions. But you must not mind our go- 
ing so far away — it will be no farther than the Indian 
Territory, and the climate of Montana must be very 
much better than it was at Camp Supply, and the 
houses must certainly be more comfortable, as the win- 
ters are so long and severe. I shall be so glad to 
have a home of my own again, and have a horse to 
ride also. 

Eaye has just come from the station and says that 
almost everything has been loaded, and that we are 
really to start to-night at eight o'clock. This is cheer- 
ing news, for I think that everyone is anxious to 
get to Montana, except the poor officers who cannot 
afford to take their families with them. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE i6i 

CoRiNNE, Utah Territory, 
September, 1877. 

WE were almost one week coming- out, but finally 
got here yesterday morning. Our train was a 
special, and having no schedule, we were often side- 
tracked for hours at a time, to make way for the regu- 
lar trains. As soon as possible after we arrived, the 
tents were unpacked and put up, and it was amazing 
to see how soon there was order out of chaos. This 
morning the camp looks like a little white city — streets 
and all. There is great activity everywhere, as prepa- 
rations have already commenced for the march north. 
Our camp " mess " has been started, and we will be 
very comfortable, I think, with a good soldier cook 
and Cagey to take care of the tents. I am making 
covers for the bed, trunk, and folding table, of dark- 
blue cretonne with white figures, which carries out 
the color scheme of the folding chairs and will give 
a little air of cheeriness to the tent, and of the same 
material I am making pockets that can be pinned on 
the side walls of the tent, in which various things can 
be tucked at night. These covers and big pockets will 
be folded and put in the roll of bedding every morning. 
There are not enough ambulances to go around, so I 
had my choice between being crowded in with other 
people, or going in a big army wagon by myself, and 
having had one experience in crowding, I chose the 
wagon without hesitation. Faye is having the rear 
half padded with straw and canvas on the sides and 
bottom, and the high top will be of canvas drawn 
over " bows," in true emigrant fashion. Our tent will 
be folded to form a seat and placed in the back, upon 
which I can sit and look out through the round open- 



i62 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ing and gossip with the mules that will be attached 
to the wagon back of me. In the front half will be 
packed all of our camp furniture and things, the knock- 
down bed, mess-chest, two little stoves (one for cook- 
ing), the bedding which will be tightly rolled in canvas 
and strapped, and so on. Cagey will sit by the driver. 
There is not one spring in the wagon, but even with- 
out, I will be more comfortable than with Mrs. Hay- 
den and three small children. They can have 
the ambulance to themselves perhaps, and will have 
all the room. I thought of Billie, too. He can be 
picketed all the time in the wagon, but imagine the 
little fellow's misery in an ambulance with three rest- 
less children for six or eight hours each day ! 

Hal is with us — in fact, I can hardly get away from 
the poor dog, he is so afraid of being separated from 
me again. When we got to the station at Pittsburg he 
was there with Cagey, and it took only one quick 
glance to see that he was a heart-broken, spirit-broken 
dog. Not one spark was left of the fire that made 
the old Hal try to pull me through an immense plate- 
glass mirror, in a hotel at Jackson, Mississippi, to fight 
his own reflection (the time the strange man offered 
one hundred and fifty dollars for him), and certainly 
he was not the hound that whipped the big bulldog at 
Monroe, Louisiana, two years ago. He did not see me 
as I came up back of him, and as he had not even heard 
my voice for over one year, I was almost childishly 
afraid to speak to him. But I finally said, " Hal, you 
have not forgotten your old friend ? " He turned in- 
stantly, but as I put my hand upon his head there 
was no joyous bound or lifting of the ears and tail — 
just a look of recognition, then a raising up full length 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 163 

of the slender body on his back legs, and putting a 
forefoot on each of my shoulders as far over as he 
could reach, he gripped me tight, fairly digging his 
toe nails into me, and with his head pressed close to 
my neck he held on and on, giving little low whines 
that were more like human sobs than the cry of a dog. 
Of course I had my arms around him, and of course 
I cried, too. It was so pitifully distressing, for it told 
how keenly the poor dumb beast had suffered during 
the year he had been away from us. People stared, 
and soon there was a crowd about us with an abun- 
dance of curiosity. Cagey explained the situation, 
and from then on to train time, Hal was patted and 
petted and given dainties from lunch baskets. 

He was in the car next to ours, coming out, and we 
saw him often. Many times there were long runs 
across the plains, when the only thing to be seen, far 
or near, would be the huge tanks containing water for 
the engines. At one of these places, while we were 
getting water, Cagey happened to be asleep, and a 
recruit, thinking that Hal was ill-treated by being 
kept tied all the time, unfastened the chain from his 
collar and led him from the car. 

The first thing the dog saw was another dog, and 
alas ! a greyhound belonging to Ryan, an old soldier. 
The next thing he saw was the dear, old, beautiful 
plains, for which he had pined so long and wearily. 
The two dogs had never seen each other before, but 
hounds are clannish and never fail to recognize their 
own kind, so with one or two jumps by way of intro- 
duction, the two were off and out of sight before any- 
one at the cars noticed what they were doing. I was 
sitting by the window in our car and saw the dogs 



i64 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

go over the rolling hill, and saw also that a dozen or 
more soldiers were running after them. I told Faye 
what had happened, and he started out and over the 
hill on a hard run. Time passed, and we in the cars 
watched, but neither men nor dogs came back. Finally 
a long whistle was blown from the engine, and in a 
short time the train began to move very slowly. The 
officers and men came running back, but the dogs 
were not with them ! My heart was almost broken ; 
to leave my beautiful dog on the plains to starve to 
death was maddening. I wanted to be alone, so to 
the dressing room I went, and with face buried in a 
portiere was sobbing my very breath away when Mrs. 
Pierce, wife of Major Pierce, came in and said so 
sweetly and sympathetically : " Don't cry, dear ; Hal 
is following the car and the conductor is going to stop 
the train." 

Giving her a hasty embrace, I ran back to the end 
of the last car, and sure enough, there was Hal, the 
old Hal, bounding along with tail high up and eyes 
sparkling, showing that the blood of his ancestors was 
still in his veins. The conductor did not stop the 
train, simply because the soldiers did not give him an 
opportunity. They turned the brakes and then held 
them, and if a train man had interfered there would 
have been a fight right then and there. 

As soon as the train was stopped Faye and Ryan 
were the first to go for the dogs, but by that time the 
hounds thought the whole afifair great fun and ob- 
jected to being caught — at least Ryan's dog objected. 
The porter in our car caught Hal, but Ryan told him 
to let the dog go, that he would bring the two back 
together. This was shrewd in Ryan, for he reasoned 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 165 

that Major Carleton might wait for an officer's dog, but 
never for one that belonged to only an enlisted man ; 
but really it was the other way, the enlisted men held 
the brakes. The dogs ran back almost a mile to the 
water tank, and the conductor backed the train down 
after them, and not until both dogs were caught and 
on board could steam budge it ahead. 

The major was in temporary command of the regi- 
ment at that time. He is a very pompous man and 
always in fear that proper respect will not be shown 
his rank, and when we were being backed down he 
went through our car and said in a loud voice : " I am 
very sorry Mrs. Rae, that you should lose your 
fine greyhound, but this train cannot be detained any 
longer — it must move on ! " I said nothing, for I saw 
the two big men in blue at the brake in front, and 
knew Major Carleton would never order them away, 
much as he might bluster and try to impress us with 
his importance, for he is really a tender-hearted man. 

Poor Faye was utterly exhausted from running 
so long, and for some time Ryan was in a critical con- 
dition. It seems that he buried his wife quite recently, 
and has left his only child in New Orleans in a con- 
vent, and the greyhound, a pet of both wife and little 
girl, is all he has left to comfort him. Everyone is 
so glad that he got the dog. Hal was not unchained 
again, I assure you, until we got here, but poor Cagey 
almost killed himself at every stopping place running 
up and down with the dog to give him a little exercise. 

It is really delightful to be in a tent once more, and 
I am anticipating much pleasure in camping through 
a strange country. A large wagon train of commis- 
sary stores will be with us, so we can easily add to 
13 



i66 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

our supplies now and then. It is amazing to see the 
really jolly mood everyone seems to be in. The 
officers are singing and whistling, and we can often 
hear from the distance the boisterous laughter of the 
men. And the wives ! there is an expression of happy 
content on the face of each one. We know, if the 
world does not, that the part we are to take on this 
march is most important. We will see that the tents 
are made comfortable and cheerful at every camp ; that 
the little dinner after the weary march, the early break- 
fast, and the cold luncheon are each and all as dainty 
as camp cooking will permit. Yes, we are sometimes 
called " camp followers," but we do not mind — it' 
probably originated with some envious old bachelor 
officer. We know all about the comfort and cheer that 
goes with us, and then — we have not been left behind ! 

Ryaj^'s Junction, Idaho Territory, 
October, 1877. 

"\T J'E are snow-bound, and everyone seems to think 
V V that we will be compelled to remain here sev- 
eral days. It was bright and sunny when the camp 
was made yesterday, but before dark a terrible bliz- 
zard came up, and by midnight the snow was deep 
and the cold intense. As long as we remain inside the 
tents we are quite comfortable with the little conical 
sheet-iron stoves that can make a tent very warm. 
And the snow that had banked around the canvas keeps 
out the freezing wind. We have everything for our 
comfort, but such weather does not make life in camp 
at all attractive. 

Faye just came in from ISTajor Pierce's tent, where 
he says he saw a funny sight. They have a large 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 167 

hospital tent, on each side of which is a row of iron 
cots, and on the cots were five chubby Httle children — 
one a mere baby — kicking up their Httle pink feet in 
jolly defiance of their patient old mammy, who was 
trying to keep them covered up. The tent was warm 
and cozy, but outside, where the snow was so deep 
and the cold so penetrating, one could hardly have be- 
lieved that these small people could have been made 
so warm and happy. But Mrs. Pierce is a wonderful 
mother! Major Pierce was opposed to bringing his 
family on this long march^ to be exposed to all kinds 
of weather, but Mrs. Pierce had no idea of being left 
behind with two days of car and eight days of the 
worst kind of stage travel between her husband and 
herself; so, like a sensible woman, she took matters in 
her own hands, and when we reached Chicago, where 
she had been visiting, there at the station was the 
smiling Mrs. Pierce with babies, governess, nurses, 
and trunks, all splendidly prepared to come with us — 
and come they all did. After the major had scolded 
a little and eased his conscience, he smiled as much 
as the other members of the family. 

The children with us seem to be standing the expo- 
sure wonderfully well. One or two were pale at first, 
but have become rosy and strong, although there is 
much that must be very trying to them and the mothers 
also. The tents are " struck " at six sharp in the 
morning, and that means that we have to be up at 
four and breakfast at five. That the bedding must be 
rolled, every little thing tucked away in trunks or bags, 
the mess chest packed, and the cooking stove and 
cooking utensils not only made ready to go safely in 
the wagon, but they must be carried out of the tents 



i68 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

before six o'clock. At that time the soldiers come, 
and, when the bugle sounds, down go the tents, and if 
anything happens to be left inside, it has to be fished 
out from underneath the canvas or left there until the 
tent is folded. The days are so short now that all 
this has to be done in the darkness, by candle or lan- 
tern light, and how mothers can get their small people 
up and ready for the day by six o'clock, I cannot un- 
derstand, for it is just all I can manage to get myself 
and the tent ready by that time. 

We are on the banks of a small stream, and the 
tents are evidently pitched directly upon the roosting 
ground of wild geese, for during the snowstorm 
thousands of them came here long after dark, making 
the most dreadful uproar one ever heard, with the 
whirring of their big wings and constant " honk ! 
honk ! " of hundreds of voices. They circled around 
so low and the calls were so loud that it seemed some- 
times as if they were inside the tents. They must have 
come home for shelter and become confused and 
blinded by the lights in the tents, and the loss of their 
ground. We must be going through a splendid coun- 
try for game. 

I was very ill for several days on the way up, the 
result of malaria — perhaps too many scuppernong 
grapes at Pass Christian, and jolting of the heavy army 
wagon that makes a small stone seem the size of a 
boulder. One morning I was unable to walk or even 
stand up, and Faye and Major Bryant carried me to 
the wagon on a bufifalo robe. All of that day's march 
Faye walked by the side of my wagon, and that 
allowed him no rest whatever, for in order to make it 
as easy for me as possible, my wagon had been placed 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 169 

at the extreme end of the long Hne. The troops march 
fifty minutes and halt ten, and as we went much slower 
than the men marched, we would about catch up with 
the column at each rest, just when the bugle would be 
blown to fall in line again, and then on the troops 
and wagons would go, Faye was kept on a con- 
tinuous tramp. I still think that he should have asked 
permission to ride on the wagon, part of the day at 
least, but he would not do so. 

One evening when the camp was near a ranch, I 
heard Doctor Gordon tell Faye outside the tent that I 
must be left at the place in the morning, that I was 
too ill to go farther ! I said not a word about having 
heard this, but I promised myself that I would go on. 
The dread of being left with perfect strangers, of 
whom I knew nothing, and where I could not possibly 
have medical attendance, did not improve my condi- 
tion, but fear gave me strength, and in the morning 
when camp broke I assured Doctor Gordon that I was 
better, very much better, and stuck to it with so much 
persistence that at last he consented to my going on. 
But during many hours of the march that morning 
I was obliged to ride on my hands and knees ! The 
road was unusually rough and stony, and the jolting 
I could not endure, sitting on the canvas or lying on 
the padded bottom of the wagon. 

It so happened that Faye was officer of the day 
that day, and Colonel Fitz-James, knowing that he 
was under a heavy strain with a sick wife in addition to 
the long marches, sent him one of his horses to ride — 
a very fine animal and one of a matched team. At the 
first halt Faye missed Hal, and riding back to the 
company saw he was not with the men, so he went on 



lyo ARMY LETTERS FROM 

to my wagon, but found that I was shut up tight, 
Cagey asleep, and the dog not with us. He did not 
speak to either of us, but kept on to the last wagon, 
where a laundress told him that she saw the dog going 
back down the road we had just come over. 

The wagon master, a sergeant, had joined Faye, 
riding a mule, and the two rode on after the dog, 
expecting every minute to overtake him. But the 
recollection of the unhappy year at Baton Rouge with 
the hospital steward was still fresh in Hal's memory, 
and the fear of another separation from his friends 
drove him on and on, faster and faster, and kept him 
far ahead of the horses. When at last Faye found 
him, he was sitting by the smoking ashes of our camp 
stove, his long nose pointed straight up, giving the 
most blood-curdling howls of misery and woe possible 
for a greyhound to give, and this is saying much. The 
poor dog was wild with delight when he saw Faye, 
and of course there was no trouble in bringing him 
back; he was only too glad to have his old friend to 
follow. He must have missed Faye from the com- 
pany in the morning, and then failing to find me in 
the shut-up wagon, had gone back to camp for us. 
This is all easily understood, but how did that hound 
find the exact spot where our tent had been, even 
the very ashes of our stove, on that large camp ground 
when he has no sense of smell? 

I wondered all the day why I did not see Faye 
and when the stop for luncheon passed and he had not 
come I began to worry, as much as I could think of 
anything beyond my own suffering. Late in the after- 
noon we reached the camp for the night, and still 
Faye had not come and no one could tell me anything 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 171 

about him. And I was very, very ill ! Doctor Gordon 
was most kind and attentive, but neither he nor other 
friends could relieve the pain in my heart, for I felt 
so positive that something was wrong. 

Just as our tent had been pitched Faye rode up, 
looking weary and worried, said a word or two to 
me, and then rode away again. He soon returned, 
however, and explained his long absence by telling 
me briefly that he had gone back for the dog. But 
he was quiet and distrait, and directly after dinner 
he went out again. When he came back he told me 
all about everything that had occurred. 

Under any circumstances, it would have been a 
dreadful thing for him to have been absent from the 
command without permission, but when officer of the 
day it was unpardonable, and to take the colonel's 
horse with him made matters all the worse. And then 
the wagon master was liable to have been called upon 
at any time, if anything had happened, or the com- 
mand had come to a dangerous ford. Faye told me 
how they had gone back for the dog, and so on, and 
said that when he first got in camp he rode imme- 
diately to the colonel's tent, turned the horse over to 
an orderly, and reported his return to the colonel, 
adding that if the horse was injured he would re- 
place him. Then he came to his own tent, fully ex- 
pecting an order to follow soon, placing him under 
arrest. 

But after dinner, as no order had come, he went 
again to see the colonel and told him just how the un- 
fortvmate affair had come about, how he had felt that 
if the dog was not found it might cost me my life, as 
I was so devoted to the dog and so very ill at that 



172 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

time. The colonel listened to the whole story, and then 
told Faye that he understood it all, that undoubtedly 
he would have done the same thing ! I think it was 
grand in Colonel Fitz-James to have been so gentle 
and kind — not one word of reproach did he say to 
Faye. Perhaps memories of his own wife came to 
him. The colonel may have a sensitive palate that 
makes him unpopular with many, but there are two 
people in his regiment who know that he has a heart 
so tender and big that the palate will never be con- 
sidered again by them. Of course the horse was not 
injured in the least. 

We are on the stage road to Helena, and at this 
place there is a fork that leads to the northwest which 
the lieutenant colonel and four companies will take 
to go to Fort Missoula, Montana. The colonel, head- 
quarters, and other companies are to be stationed at 
Helena during the winter. We expect to meet the 
stage going south about noon to-morrow, and you 
should have this in eight days. Billie squirrel has a 
fine time in the wagon and is very fat. He runs off 
with bits of mv luncheon every day and hides them in 
different places in the canvas, to his own satisfaction 
at least. One of the mules back of us has become 
most friendly, and will take from my hand all sorts 
of things to eat. 

Poor Hal had a fit the other day, something like 
vertigo, after having chased a rabbit. Doctor Gordon 
says that he has fatty degeneration of the heart, caused 
by having so little exercise in the South, but that he 
will probably get over it if allowed to run every day. 
But I do not like the very idea of the dog having any- 
thing the matter with his heart. It was so pathetic to 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 173 

have him stagger to the tent and drop at my feet, 
dumbly confident that I could give him relief. 



Camp near Helena, Montana Territory, 
November, 1877. 

THE company has been ordered to Camp Baker, a 
small post nearly sixty miles farther on. We 
were turned off from the Helena road and the rest of 
the command at the base of the mountains, and are 
now about ten miles from Helena on our way to the 
new station, which, we are told, is a wretched little 
two-company post on the other side of the Big Belt 
range of mountains. I am awfully disappointed in 
not seeing something of Helena, and very, very sorry 
that we have to go so far from our friends and to 
such an isolated place, but it is the company's turn 
for detached service, so here we are. 

The scenery was grand in many places along the 
latter part of the march, and it is grand here, also. 
We are in a beautiful broad valley with snow-capped 
mountains on each side. From all we hear we con- 
clude there must be exceptionally good hunting and 
fishing about Camp Baker, and there is some consola- 
tion in that. The fishing was very good at several of 
our camps after we reached the mountains, and I can 
assure you that the speckled trout of the East and these 
mountain trout are not comparable, the latter are so 
far, far superior. The flesh is white and very firm, 
and sometimes they are so cold when brought out of 
the water one finds it tmcomfortable to hold them. 
They are good fighters, too, and even small ones give 
splendid sport. 

One night the camp was by a beautiful little stream 



174 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

with high banks, and here and there bunches of 
bushes and rocks — an ideal home for trout, so I started 
out, hoping to catch something with a common willow 
pole and ordinary hook, and grasshoppers for bait. 
Faye tells everybody that I had only a bent pin for 
a hook, but of course no one believes him. Major 
Stokes joined me and we soon found a deep pool just 
at the edge of camp. His fishing tackle was very 
much like mine, so when we saw Captain Martin com- 
ing toward us with elegant jointed rod, shining new 
reel, and a camp stool, we felt rather crestfallen. 
Captain Martin passed on and seated himself com- 
fortably on the bank just below us, but Major Stokes 
and I went down the bank to the edge of the pool 
where we were compelled to stand, of course. 

The water was beautifully clear and as soon as 
everybody and everything became quiet, we saw down 
on the bottom one or two trout, then more appeared, 
and still more, until there must have been a dozen or 
so beautiful fish in between the stones, each one about 
ten inches long. But go near the hooks they would 
not, neither would they rise to Captain Martin's most 
tem])ting flies — for he, too, saw many trout, from 
where he sat. We stood there a long time, until 
our patience was quite exhausted, trying to catch 
some of those fish, sometimes letting the current take 
the grasshoppers almost to their very noses, when 
finally Major Stokes whispered, " There, Mrs. Rae 
there, try to get that big fellow ! " Now as we had 
all been most unsuccessful with the little " fellows," 
I had no hope whatever of getting the big one, still 
I tried, for he certainly was a beauty and looked very 
large as he came slowly along, carefully avoiding the 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 175 

stones. Before I had moved my bait six inches, there 
was a flash of white down there, and then with a httle 
jerk I hooked that fish — hooked him safely. 

That was very, very nice, but the fish set up a ter- 
rible fight that would have given great sport with a 
reel, but I did not have a reel, and the steep bank di- 
rectly back of me only made matters worse. I saw 
that time must not be wasted, that I must not give 
him a chance to slacken the line and perhaps shake 
the hook off, so I faced about, and putting the pole 
over my shoulder, proceeded to climb the bank of four 
or five feet, dragging the flopping fish after me ! Cap- 
tain Martin laughed heartily, but instead of laughing 
at the funny sight, Major Stokes jumped to my assist- 
ance, and between us we landed the fish up on the 
bank. It was a lovely trout — by far the largest we 
had seen, and Major Stokes insisted that we should 
take him to the commissary scales, where he weighed 
over three and one half pounds ! 

The jumping about of my big trout ruined the 
fishing, of course, in that part of the stream for some 
time, so, with a look of disgust for things generally, 
Captain Martin folded his rod and camp stool and re- 
turned to his tent. I had the trout served for our 
dinner, and, having been so recently caught, it was 
delicious. These mountain trout are very delicate, 
and if one wishes to enjoy their very finest flavor, they 
should be cooked and served as soon as they are out 
of the water. If kept even a few hours this delicacy 
is lost — a fact we have discovered for ourselves on 
the march up. 

The camp to-night is near the house of a German 
family, and I am writing in their little prim sitting 



176 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

room, and Billie squirrel is with me and ver}'- busy 
examining things generally. I came over to wait 
while the tents were being pitched, and was received 
with such cordial hospitality, and have found the lit- 
tle room so warm and comfortable that I have stayed 
on longer than I had intended. Soon after I came my 
kind hostess brought in a cup of most delicious cofifee 
and a little pitcher of cream — real cream — something 
I had not tasted for six weeks, and she also brought 
a plate piled high with generous pieces of German 
cinnamon cake, at the same time telling me that I 
must eat every bit of it — that I looked " real peaked," 
and not strong enough to go tramping around with 
all those men ! When I told her that it was through 
my own choice that I Vv'as " tramping," that I enjoyed 
it, she looked at me with genuine pity, and as though 
she had just discovered that I did not have good 
common sense. 

We start on early in the morning, and it will take 
two or three days to cross the mountains. The little 
camp of one company looks lonesome after the large 
regimental camp we have been with so long. The air 
is really wonderful, so clear and crisp and exhilara- 
ting. It makes me long for a good horse, and horses 
we intend to have as soon as possible. We are an- 
ticipating so much pleasure in having a home once 
more, even if it is to be of logs and buried in snow, 
perhaps, during the winter. Hal is outside, and his 
beseeching whines have swelled to awful howls that 
remind me of neglected duties in the tent. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 177 

Camp Baker, Montana Territory, 
November, 1877. 

IT was rather "late in the afternoon yesterday when 
we got to this post, because of a delay on the 
mountains. But this did not cause inconvenience to 
anyone — there was a vacant set of quarters that Lieu- 
tenant Hayden took possession of at once for his fam- 
ily, and where with camp outfit they can be comfort- 
able until the wagons are unloaded. Faye and I are 
staying with the commanding officer and his wife. 
Colonel Gardner is lieutenant colonel of the — th In- 
fantry, and has a most enviable reputation as a post 
commander. As an officer, we have not seen him yet, 
but we do know that he can be a most charming host. 
He has already informed Faye that he intends to 
appoint him adjutant and quartermaster of the post. 

We are in a little valley almost surrounded by 
magnificent, heavily timbered mountains, and Colonel 
Gardner says that at any time one can find deer, moun- 
tain sheep, and bear in these forests, adding that there 
are also mountain lions and wild cats ! The scenery on 
the road from Helena to Camp Baker was grand, but 
the roads were dreadful, most of the time along the 
sides of steep mountains that seemed to be one enor- 
mous pile of big boulders in some places and solid rock 
in others. These roads have been cut into the rock and 
are scarcely wider than the wagon track, and often we 
could look almost straight down seventy-five feet, or 
even more, on one side, and straight up for hundreds 
of feet on the other side. 

And in the canons many of the grades were so steep 
that the wheels of the wagons had to be chained in 
addition to the big brakes to prevent them from run- 



178 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ning- sideways, and so off the grade. I rode down 
one of these places, but it was the last as well as the 
first. Every time the big wagon jolted over a stone 
— and it was jolt over stones all the time — it seemed 
as if it must topple over the side and roll to the 
bottom ; and then the way the driver talked to the 
mules to keep them straight, and the creaking and 
scraping of the wagons, was enough to frighten the 
most courageous. 

In Confederate Gulch we crossed a ferry that was 
most marvelous. A heavy steel cable was stretched 
across the river — the Missouri — and fastened securely 
to each bank, and then a flat boat was chained at each 
end to the cable, but so it could slide along when the 
ferryman gripped the cable with a large hook, and 
gave long, hard pulls. Faye says that the very swift 
current of the stream assisted him much. 

The river runs through a narrow, deep canon where 
the ferry is, and at the time we crossed everything 
was in dark shadow, and the water looked black, and 
fathoms deep, with its wonderful reflections. The 
grandeur of these mountains is simply beyond im- 
agination ; they have to be seen to be appreciated, and 
yet when seen, one can scarcely comprehend their im- 
mensity. We are five hundred miles from a railroad, 
with endless chains of these mountains between. All 
supplies of every description are brought up that dis- 
tance by long ox trains — dozens of wagons in a train, 
and eight or ten pairs of oxen fastened to the one long 
chain that pulls three or four heavily loaded wagons. 
We passed many of these trains on the march up, and 
my heart ached for the poor patient beasts. 

We are to have one side of a large double house. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 179 

which will give us as many rooms as we will need 
in this isolated place. Hal is in the house now, with 
Cagey, and Billie is there also, and has the exclusive 
run of one room. The little fellow stood the march 
finely, and it is all owing to that terrible old wagon 
that was such a comfort in some ways, but caused me 
so much misery in others. These houses must be quite 
warm; they are made of large logs placed horizon- 
tally, and the inner walls are plastered, which will 
keep out the bitter cold during the winter. The small- 
est window has an outside storm window. 

Camp Baker, Montana Territory, 
December, 1877. 

THIS post is far over in the Belt Mountains and 
quite cut off from the outside world, and there 
are very few of us here, nevertheless the days pass 
wonderfully fast, and they are pleasant days, also. 
And then we have our own little excitements that are 
of intense interest to us, even if they are never heard 
of in the world across the snow and ice. 

The Rae family was very much upset two days 
ago by the bad behavior of my horse Bettie, when 
she managed to throw Faye for the very first time 
in his life ! You know that both of our horses, al- 
though raised near this place, were really range ani- 
mals, and were brought in and broken for us. The 
black horse has never been very satisfactory, and 
Faye has a battle with him almost every time he takes 
him out, but Bettie had been lovely and behaved won- 
derfully well for so young a horse, and I have been 
so pleased with her and her delightful gaits — a little 
single foot and easy canter. 



i8o ARMY LETTERS FROM 

The other morning Faye was in a hurry to get 
out to a lumber camp and, as I did not care to go, he 
decided to ride my horse rather than waste time by 
arguing with the black as to which road they should 
go. Ben always thinks he knows more about such 
things than his rider. Well, Kelly led Bettie up from 
the corral and saddled and bridled her, and when 
Faye was ready to start I went out with him to give 
the horse a few lumps of sugar. She is a beautiful 
animal — a bright bay in color — with perfect head antl 
dainty, expressive ears, and remarkably slender legs. 

Faye immediately prepared to mount ; in fact, 
bridle in hand, had his left foot in the stirrup and 
the right was over the horse, when up went Miss 
Bet's back, arched precisely like a mad cat's, and 
down in between her fore legs went her pretty nose, 
and high up in the air went everything — man and 
beast — the horse coming down on legs as rigid and 
unbending as bars of steel, and then — something hap- 
pened to Faye ! Nothing could have been more un- 
expected, and it was all over in a second. 

Kelly caught the bridle reins in time to prevent the 
horse from running away, and Faye got up on his 
feet, and throwing back his best West Point shoul- 
ders, faced the excited horse, and for two long sec- 
onds he and Miss Bet looked each other square in the 
eye. Just what the horse thought no one knows, but 
Kelly and I remember what Faye said! All desire 
to laugh, however, was quickly crushed when I heard 
Kelly ordered to lead the horse to the sutler's store, 
and fit a Spanish bit to her mouth, and to take the sad- 
dle off and strap a blanket on tight with a surcingle, 
for I knew that a hard and dangerous fight between 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE i8i 

man and horse was about to commence. Faye told 
Cagey to chain Hal and then went in the house, soon 
returning, however, without a blouse, and with mocca- 
sins on his feet and with leggings. 

When Kelly returned he looked most unhappy, for 
he loves horses and has been so proud of Bettie. 
But Faye was not thinking of Kelly and proceeded 
at once to mount, having as much fire in his eyes as 
the horse had in hers, for she had already discovered 
that the bit was not to her liking. As soon as she 
felt Faye's weight, up went her back again, but 
down she could not get her head, and the more she 
pushed down, the harder the spoon of the bit pressed 
against the roof of her mouth. This made her furi- 
ous, and as wild as when first brought from the range. 

She lunged and lunged — forward and sideways — 
reared, and of course tried to run away, but with all 
the vicious things her little brain could think of, she 
could not get the bit from her mouth or Faye from 
her back. So she started to rub him oflf — doing it 
with thought and in the most scientific way. She first 
went to the corner of our house, then tried the other 
corner of that end, and so she went on, rubbing up 
against every object she saw — house, tree, and fence 
— even going up the steps at the post trader's. That 
I thought very smart, for the bit was put in her mouth 
there, and she might have hoped to find some kind 
friend who would take it out. 

It required almost two hours of the hardest kind 
of riding to conquer the horse, and to teach her that 
just as long as she held her head up and behaved her- 
self generally, the bit would not hurt her. She finally 
gave in, and is once more a tractable beast, and I have 
13 



i82 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ridden her twice, but with the Spanish bit. She is a 
nervous animal and will always be frisky. It has 
leaked out that the morning she bucked so viciously, 
a cat had been thrown upon her back at the corral by 
a playful soldier, just before she had been led up. 
Kelly did not like to tell this of a comrade. It was 
most fortunate that I had decided not to ride at that 
time, for a pitch over a horse's head with a skirt to 
catch on the pommel is a performance I am not seek- 
ing. And Bettie had been such a dear horse all the 
time, her single foot and run both so swift and easy. 
Kelly says, " Yer cawn't feel yerse'f on her, mum." 
Faye is quartermaster, adjutant, commissary, signal 
officer, and has other positions that I cannot remember 
just now, that compel him to be at his own office for 
an hour every morning before breakfast, in addition 
to the regular office hours during the day. The post 
commander is up and out at half past six every work- 
day, and Sundays I am sure he is a most unhappy 
man. But Faye gets away for a hunt now and then, 
and the other day he started off, much to my regret, 
all alone and with only a rifle. I worry when he goes 
alone up in these dense forests, and when an officer 
goes with him I am so afraid of an accident, that 
one may shoot the other. It is impossible to take a 
wagon, or even ride a horse among the rocks and 
big boulders. There are panthers and wild cats and 
wolves and all sorts of fearful things up there. The 
coyotes often come down to the post at night, and 
their terrible, unearthly howls drive the dogs almost 
crazy — and some of the people, too. 

I worried about Faye the other morning as usual, 
and thought of all the dreadful things that could so 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 183 

easily happen. And then I tried to forget my anxiety 
by taking a brisk ride on Bettie, but when I returned 
I found that Faye had not come, so I worried all the 
more. The hours passed and still he was away, and 
I was becoming really alarmed. At last there was a 
shout at a side door, and running out I found Faye 
standing up very tall and with a broad smile on his 
face, and on the ground at his feet was an immense 
white-tail deer ! He said that he had walked miles 
on the mountain but had failed to find one living 
thing, and had finally come down and was just start- 
ing to cross the valley on his way home, when he saw 
the deer, which he fortunately killed with one shot at 
very long range. He did not want to leave it to be 
devoured by wolves while he came to the corral for 
a wagon, so he dragged the heavy thing all the way 
in. And that was why he was gone so long, for of 
course he was obliged to rest every now and then. 
I was immensely proud of the splendid deer, but it 
did not convince me in the least that it was safe for 
Faye to go up in that forest alone. Of course Faye 
has shot other deer, and mountain sheep also, since 
we have been here, but this was the first he had killed 
when alone. 

Of all the large game we have ever had — bufifalo, 
antelope, black-tail deer, white-tail deer — the mountain 
sheep is the most delicious. The meat is very tender 
and juicy and exceedingly rich in flavor. It is very 
" gamey," of course, and is better after having been 
frozen or hung for a few days. These wary animals 
are most difficult to get, for they are seldom found ex- 
cept on the peaks of high mountains, where the many 
big rocks screen them, so when one is brought in, it 



i84 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

is always with great pride and rejoicing. There are 
antelope in the lowlands about here, but none have 
been brought in since we came to the post. The 
ruffed grouse and the fule hens are plentiful, and of 
course nothing can be more delicious. 

And the trout are perfect, too, but the manner in 
which we get them this frozen-up weather is not 
sportsmanlike. There is a fine trout stream just out- 
side the post which is frozen over now, but when we 
wish a few nice trout for dinner or breakfast, Cagey 
and I go down, and with a hatchet he will cut a hole 
in the ice through which I fish, and usually catch 
all we want in a few minutes. The fish seem to be 
hungry and rise quickly to almost any kind of bait 
except flies. They seem to know that this is not the 
fly season. The trout are not very large, about eight 
and ten inches long, but they are delicate in flavor and 
very delicious. 

Cagey is not a wonderful cook, but he does very 
well, and I think that I would much prefer him to a 
Chinaman, judging from what I have seen of them 
here. Airs. Conrad, wife of Captain Conrad, of the 
— th Infantry, had one who was an excellent servant 
in every way except in the manner of doing the laundry 
work. He persisted in putting the soiled linen in the 
boiler right from the basket, and no amount of talk 
on the part of Mrs. Conrad could induce him to do 
otherwise. Monday morning Mrs. Conrad went to the 
kitchen and told him once more that he must look the 
linen over, and rub it with plenty of water and soap be- 
fore boiling it. The heathen looked at her with a grin 
and said, " Allee light, you no likee my washee, you 
washee yousel'/' and lifting the boiler from the stove 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 185 

he emptied its entire steaming contents out upon the 
floor! He then went to his own room, gathered up 
his few clothes and bedding, and started off. He knew 
full well that if he did not leave the reservation at once 
he would be put off after such a performance. 

Camp Baker, Montana Territory, 
February, 1878. 

HOME seems very cozy and attractive after the 
mountains of snow and ice we crossed and re- 
crossed on our little trip to Helena. The bitter cold of 
those canons will long be remembered. But it was a 
delightful change from the monotonous life in this out- 
of-the-way garrison, even if we did almost freeze on 
the road, and it was more than pleasant to be with old 
friends again. 

The ball at the hall Friday evening was most enjoy- 
able, and it was simply enchanting to dance once more 
to the perfect music of the dear old orchestra. And 
the young people in Helena are showing their appre- 
ciation of the good music by dancing themselves posi- 
tively thin this winter. The band leader brought from 
New Orleans the Creole music that was so popular 
there, and at the ball we danced Les Varietes four 
times ; the last was at the request of Lieutenant Joyce, 
with whom I always danced it in the South. It is 
thoroughly French, bringing in the waltz, polka, schot- 
tische, mazurka, and redowa. Some of those Creole 
girls were the personification of grace in that dance. 

We knew of the ball before leaving home, and went 
prepared for it, but had not heard one word about the 
bal masque to be given by " The Army Social Club " 
at Mrs. Gordon's Tuesday evening. We did not have 



i86 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

one thing with us to assist in the make-up of a fancy 
dress ; nevertheless we decided to attend it. Faye 
said for me not to give him a thought, that he could 
manage his own costume. How I did envy his con- 
fidence in man and things, particularly things, for 
just then I felt far from equal to managing my own 
dress. 

I had been told of some of the costumes that were 
to be worn by friends, and they were beautiful, and 
the more I heard of these things, the more determined 
I became that I would not appear in a domino ! So 
Monday morning I started out for an idea, and this I 
found almost immediately in a little shop window. It 
was only a common pasteboard mask, but nevertheless 
it was a work of art. The face was fat and silly, and 
droll beyond description, and to look at the thing and 
not laugh was impossible. It had a heavy bang of 
fiery red hair. I bought it without delay, and was 
wondering where I could find something to go with it 
in that little town, when I met a friend — a friend in- 
deed — who ofifered me some widths of silk that had 
been dyed a most hideous shade of green. 

I gladly accepted the offer, particularly as this 
. friend is in deep mourning and would not be at the 
ball to recognize me. Well, I made this really awful 
silk into a very full skirt that just covered my ankles, 
and near the bottom I put a broad band of orange- 
colored cambric — the stifif and shiny kind. Then I 
made a Mother Hubbard apron of white paper-cam- 
bric, also very stiff and shiny, putting a big full ruche 
of the cambric around neck, yoke, and bottom of 
sleeves. For my head I made a large cap of the white 
cambric with ruche all around, and fastened it on 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 187 

tight with wide strings that were tied in a large stiff 
bow under the chin. We drew my evening dress up 
underneath both skirt and apron and pinned it securely 
on my shoulders, and this made me stout and shape- 
less. Around this immense waist and over the apron 
was drawn a wide sash of bright pink, glossy cam- 
bric that was tied in a huge bow at the back. But 
by far the best of all, a real crown of glory, was a 
pigtail of red, red hair that hung down my back and 
showed conspicuously on the white apron. This was 
a loan by Mrs. Joyce, another friend in mourning, and 
who assisted me in dressing. 

We wanted the benefit of the long mirror in the 
little parlor of the hotel, so we carried everything there 
and locked the door. And then the fun commenced! 
I am afraid that Mrs. Joyce's fingers must have been 
badly bruised by the dozens of pins she used, and how 
she laughed at me! But if I looked half as dreadful 
as my reflection in the mirror I must have been a sight 
to provoke laughter. We had been requested to give 
names to our characters, and Mrs. Joyce said I must be 
" A Country Girl," but it still seems to me that " An 
Idiot " would have been more appropriate. 

I drove over with Major and Mrs. Carleton. The 
dressing rooms were crowded at Mrs. Gordon's, so it 
was an easy matter to slip away, give my long cloak 
and thick veil to a maid, and return to Mrs. Carleton 
before she had missed me, and it was most laughable 
to see the dear lady go in search for me, peering in 
everyone's face. But she did not find me, although we 
went down the stairs and in the drawing-room to- 
gether, and neither did one person in those rooms 
recognize me during the evening. Lieutenant Joyce 



i88 ARMY LETTERSFROM 

said he knew to whom the hair belonged, but beyond 
that it was all a mystery. 

That evening will never be forgotten, for, as soon 
as I saw that no one knew me, I became a child once 
more, and the more the maskers laughed the more I 
ran around. When I first appeared in the rooms there 
was a general giggle and that was exhilarating, so 
off I went. After a time Colonel Fitz-James adopted 
me and tagged around after me every place ; I sim- 
ply could not get rid of the man. I knew him, of 
course, and I also knew that he was mistaking me for 
some one else, Vv^hich made his attentions anything but 
complimentary. I told him ever so many times that 
he did not know me, but he always insisted that it 
was impossible for him to be deceived, that he would 
always know me, and so on. He was acting in a very 
silly manner — quite too silly for a man of his years and 
a colonel of a regiment, and he was keeping me from 
some very nice dances, too, so I decided to lead him 
a dance, and commenced a rare flirtation in cozy 
corners and out-of-the-way places. I must admit, 
though, that all the pleasure I derived from it was 
when I heard the smothered giggles of those who saw 
us. The colonel was in a domino and had not tried 
to disguise himself. 

We went in to supper together, and I managed to 
be almost the last one to unmask, and all the time 
Colonel Fitz-James, domino removed, was standing 
in front of me, and looking down with a smile of se- 
rene expectancy. The colonel of a regiment is a per- 
son of prominence, therefore many people in the room 
were watching us, not one suspecting, however, who 
I was. So when I did take off the mask there was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 189 

a shout : " Why, it is Mrs. Rae," and " Oh, look at 
Mrs. Rae," and several friends came up to us. 
Well, I wish you could have seen the colonel's face — 
the mingled surprise and almost horror that was ex- 
pressed upon it. Of course the vain man had placed 
himself in a ridiculous position, chasing around and 
flirting with the wife of one of his very own officers 
— a second lieutenant at that ! It came out later that 
he, and others also, had thought that I was a Helena 
girl whom the colonel admires very much. It was 
rather embarrassing, too, to be told that the girl was 
sitting directly opposite on the other side of the room, 
where she was watching us with two big, black eyes. 
And then farther down I saw Faye also looking at 
us — but then, a man never can see things from a 
woman's view point. 

The heat and weight of the two dresses had been 
awful, and as soon as I could get away, I ran to a 
dressing room and removed the cambric. But the pins ! 
There seemed to be thousands of them. Some of the 
costumes were beautiful and costly^ also. Mrs. Man- 
son, a lovely little woman of Helena, was " A Comet." 
Her short dress of blue silk was studded with gold 
stars, and to each shoulder was fastened a long, pointed 
train of yellow gauze sprinkled with diamond dust. 
An immense gold star with a diamond sunburst in the 
center was above her forehead, and around her neck 
was a diamond necklace. Mrs. Palmer, wife of Colonel 
Palmer, was " King of Hearts," the foundation a 
handsome red silk. Mrs. Spencer advertised the Nezv 
York Herald; the whole dress, which was flounced to 
the waist, was made of the headings of that paper. 
Major Blair was recognized by no one as " An Amer- 



I90 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ican citizen," in plain evening dress. I could not find 
Faye at all, and he was in a simple red domino, too. 

I cannot begin to tell you of the many lovely cos- 
tumes that seemed most wonderful to me, for you must 
remember that we were far up in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, five hundred miles from a railroad ! I will send 
you a copy of the Helena paper that gives an account 
of the ball, in which you will read that " Mrs. Rae 
was inimitable — the best sustained character in the 
rooms." I have thought this over some, and I con- 
sider the compliment doubtful. 

We remained one day longer in Helena than we had 
expected for the bal masque; consequently we were 
obliged to start back the very next morning, directly 
after breakfast, and that was not pleasant, for we 
were very tired. The weather had been bitter cold, 
but during the night a chinook had blown up, and 
the air was warm and balmy as w^e came across the 
valley. When we reached the mountains, however, 
it was freezing again, and there was glassy ice every 
place, which made driving over the grades more dan- 
gerous than usual. In many places the ambulance 
wheels had to be " blocked," and the back and front 
wheels of one side chained together so they could not 
turn, in addition to the heavy brake, and then the 
driver would send the four sharp-shod mules down at 
a swinging trot that kept the ambulance straight, and 
did not give it time to slip around and roll us down 
to eternity. 

There is one grade on this road that is notoriously 
dangerous, and dreaded by every driver around here 
because of the many accidents that have occurred 
there. It is cut in the side of a high mountain and 



\ "1 



\ h 



Hh 






V4 ,.• 'V y 







' ■i?'/*''t. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 193 

has three sharp turns back and forth, and the moun- 
tain is so steep, it is impossible to see from the upper 
grade all of the lower that leads down into the caiion 
called White's Gulch. This one mountain grade 
is a mile and a half long. But the really dangerous 
place is near the middle turn, where a warm spring 
trickles out of the rocks and in winter forms thick 
ice over the road ; and if this ice cannot be broken up, 
neither man nor beast can walk over, as it is always 
thicker on the inner side. 

I was so stiffened from the overheating and try- 
to-fool dancing at Mrs. Gordon's, it was with the 
greatest difficulty I could walk at all on the slippery 
hills, and was constantly falling down, much to the 
amusement of Faye and the driver. But ride down 
some of them I would not. At Caiion Ferry, where 
we remained over night, the ice in the Missouri was 
cracked, and there were ominous reports like pistol 
shots down in the caiion below. At first Faye 
thought it would be impossible to come over, but the 
driver said he could get everything across, if he could 
come at once. Faye walked over with me, and then 
went back to assist the driver with the mules that 
were still on the bank refusing to step upon the ice. 
But Faye led one leader, and the driver lashed and 
yelled at all of them, and in this way they crossed, 
each mule snorting at every step. 

There were the most dreadful groans and creakings 
and loud reports during the entire night, and in the 
morning the river was clear, except for a few pieces 
of ice that were still floating down from above. The 
Missouri is narrow at Caiion Ferry, deep and very 
swift, and it is a dreadful place to cross at any time, 



194 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

on the ice, or on the cable ferryboat. They catch a 
queer fish there called the " ling." It has three sides, 
is long and slender, and is perfectly blind. They gave 
us some for supper and it was really delicious. 

We found everything in fine order upon our return, 
and it was very evident that Cagey had taken good 
care of the house and Hal, but Billie grayback had 
taken care of himself. He was given the run of my 
room, but I had expected, of course, that he would 
sleep in his own box, as usual. But no, the little ras- 
cal in some way discovered the warmth of the blan- 
kets on my bed, and in between these he had un- 
doubtedly spent most of the time during our absence, 
and there we found him after a long search, and there 
he wants to stay all the time now, and if anyone hap- 
pens to go near the bed they are greeted with the 
fiercest kind of smothered growls. 

The black horse has been sold, and Faye has 
bought another, a sorrel, that seems to be a very satis- 
factory animal. He is not as handsome as Ben, nor as 
fractious, either. Bettie is behaving very well, but is 
still nervous, and keeps her forefeet down just long 
enough to get herself over the ground. She is beau- 
tiful, and Kelly simply adores her and keeps her 
bright-red coat like satin. Faye can seldom ride 
with me because of his numerous duties, and not one 
of the ladies rides here, so I have Kelly go, for one 
never knows what one may come across on the roads 
around here. They are so seldom traveled, and are 
little more than trails. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 195 

Camp Baker, Montana Territory, 
March, 1878. 

THE mail goes out in the morning, and in it a letter 
must be sent to you, but it is hard — hard for me 
to write — to have to tell you that my dear dog, my 
beautiful greyhound, is dead — dead and buried ! It 
seems so cruel that he should have died now, so soon 
after getting back to his old home, friends, and free- 
dom. On Tuesday, Faye and Lieutenant Lomax went 
out for a little hunt, letting Hal go with them, which 
was unusual, and to which I objected, for Lieutenant 
Lomax is a notoriously poor shot and hunter, and I 
was afraid he might accidentally kill Hal — mistake 
him for a wild animal. So, as they went down our 
steps I said, "Please do not shoot my dog!" much 
more in earnest than in jest, for I felt that he would 
really be in danger, as it would be impossible to keep 
him with them all the time. 

As they went across the parade ground, rifles over 
their shoulders, Hal jumped up on Faye and played 
around him, expressing his delight at being allowed 
to go on a hunt. He knew what a gun was made for 
just as well as the oldest hunter. That was the last 
I saw of my dog! Faye returned long before I had 
expected him, and one quick glance at his troubled 
face told me that something terrible had happened. 
I saw that he was unhurt and apparently well, but — 
where was Hal? With an awful pain in my heart I 
asked, "Did Lieutenant Lomax shoot Hal?" After 
a second's hesitation Faye said " No ; but Hal is 
dead!" It seemed too dreadful to be true, and at 
first I could not believe it, for it had been only 
such a short time since I had seen him bounding and 



196 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

leaping, evidently in perfect health, and oh, so 
happy ! 

No one in the house even thought of dinner that 
night, and poor black Cagey sobbed and moaned so 
loud and long Faye was obliged to ask him to be 
quiet. For hours I could not listen to the particulars. 
Faye says that they had not gone out so very far 
when he saw a wild cat some distance away, and tak- 
ing careful aim, he shot it, but the cat, instead of fall- 
ing, started on a fast run. Hal was in another direc- 
tion, but when he heard the report of the rifle and saw 
the cat running, he started after it with terrific speed 
and struck it just as the cat fell, and then the two 
rolled over and over together. 

He got up and stood by Faye and Lieutenant 
Lomax while they examined the cat, and if there was 
anything wrong with him it was not noticed. But 
when they turned to come to the post, dragging the 
dead cat after them, Faye heard a peculiar sound, 
and looking back saw dear Hal on the ground in a 
fit much like vertigo. He talked to him and petted 
him, thinking he would soon be over it — and the 
plucky dog did get up and try to follow, but went 
down again and for the last time The swift run 
and excitement caused by encountering an animal 
wholly different from anything he had ever seen 
before was too great a strain upon the weak 
heart. 

Before coming to the house Faye had ordered a 
detail out to bury him, with instructions to cover the 
grave with pieces of glass to keep the wolves away. 
The skin and head of the cat, which was really a 
lynx, are being prepared for a rug, but I do not see 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 197 

how I can have the thing in the house, although the 
black spots and stripes with the white make the fur 
very beautiful. The ball passed straight through the 
body. 

The loneliness of the house is awful, and at night 
I imagine that I hear him outside whining to come in. 
Many a cold night have I been up two and three times 
to straighten his bed and cover him up. His bed was 
the skin of a young buffalo, and he knew just when it 
was smooth and nice, and then he would almost throw 
himself down, with a sigh of perfect content. If I 
did not cover him at once, he would get up and drop 
down again, and there he would stay hours at a time 
with the fur underneath and over him, with just his 
nose sticking out. He suffered keenly from the intense 
cold here because his hair was so short and fine. And 
then he was just from the South, too, where he was 
too warm most of the time. 

It makes me utterly wretched to think of the long 
year he was away from us at Baton Rouge. But what 
could we have done? We could not have had him 
with us, in the very heart of New Orleans, for he had 
already been stolen from us at Jackson Barracks, a 
military post! 

With him passed the very last of his blood, a breed 
of greyhounds that was known in Texas, Kansas, and 
Colorado as wonderful hunters, also remarkable for 
their pluck and beauty of form. Hal was a splendid 
hunter, and ever on the alert for game. Not one mor- 
sel of it would he eat, however, not even a piece of do- 
mestic fowl, which he seemed to look upon as game. 
Sheep he considered fine game, and would chase them 
every opportunity that presented itself. This was his 
14 



198 ARAIY LETTERS FROM 

one bad trait, an expensive one sometimes, but it was 
the only one, and was overbalanced many times by his 
lovable qualities that made him a favorite with all. 
Every soldier in the company loved him and was proud 
of him, and would have shared his dinner with the dog 
any day if called upon to do so. 

National Hotel, Helena, Montana Territory, 
May, 1878. 

TO hear that we are no longer at Camp Baker will 
be a surprise, but you must have become accus- 
tomed to surprises of this kind long ago. Regimental 
headquarters, the companies that have been quartered 
at the Helena fair grounds during the winter, and 
the two companies from Camp Baker, started from 
here this morning on a march to the Milk River coun- 
try, where a new post is to be established on Beaver 
Creek. It is to be called Fort Assiniboine. The troops 
will probably be in camp until fall, when they will go 
to Fort Shaw. 

We had been given no warning whatever of this 
move, and had less than two days in which to pack 
and crate everything. And I can assure you that in 
one way it was worse than being ranked out, for 
this time there was necessity for careful packing and 
crating, because of the rough mountain roads the 
wagons had to come over. But there were no acci- 
dents, and our furniture and boxes are safely put away 
here in a government storehouse. 

At the time the order came, Faye was recorder 
for a board of survey that was being held at the post, 
and this, in addition to turning over quartermaster 
and other property, kept him hard at work night and 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 199 

day, so the superintendence of all things pertaining 
to the house and camp outfit fell to my lot. The sol- 
diers were most willing and most incompetent, and 
it kept me busy telling them what to do. The mess- 
chest, and Faye's camp bedding are always in readi- 
ness for ordinary occasions, but for a camp of several 
months in this climate, where it can be really hot one 
day and freezing cold the next, it was necessary to 
add many more things. Just how I managed to ac- 
complish so much in so short a time I do not know, 
but I do know that I was up and packing every pre- 
cious minute the night before we came away, and the 
night seemed very short too. But everything was 
taken to the wagons in very good shape, and that 
repaid me for much of the hard work and great 
fatigue. 

And I was tired — almost too tired to sit up, but at 
eight o'clock I got in an ambulance and came nearly 
forty miles that one day! Major Stokes and Captain 
Martin had been on the board of survey, and as they 
were starting on the return trip to Helena, I came 
over with them, which not only got me here one day 
in advance of the company, but saved Faye the trou- 
ble of providing for me in camp on the march from 
Camp Baker. We left the post just as the troops were 
starting out. Faye was riding Bettie and Cagey was 
on Pete. 

I brought Billie, of course, and at Canon Ferry I 
lost that squirrel ! After supper I went directly to my 
room to give him a little run and to rest a little myself, 
but before opening his box I looked about for places 
where he might escape, and seeing a big crack under 
one of the doors, covered it with Faye's military 



200 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

cape, thinking, as I did so, that it would be impossible 
for a squirrel to crawl through such a narrow place. 
Then I let him out. Instead of running around and 
shying at strange objects as he usually does, he ran 
straight to that cape, and after two or three pulls with 
his paws, flattened his little gray body, and like a flash 
he and the long bushy tail disappeared ! I was en 
deshabille, but quickly slipped on a long coat and ran 
out after him. 

Very near my door was one leading to the kitchen, 
and so I went on through, and the very first thing 
stumbled over a big cat ! This made me more anxious 
than ever, but instead of catching the beast and shut- 
ting it up, I drove it away. In the kitchen, which was 
dining room also, sat the two officers and a disagree- 
able old man, and at the farther end was a woman 
washing dishes. I told them about Billie and begged 
them to keep very quiet while I searched for him. 
Then that old man laughed. That was quite too much 
for my overtaxed nerves, and I snapped out that I 
failed to see anything funny. But still he laughed, 
and said, " Perhaps you don't, but we do." I was too 
worried and unhappy to notice what he meant, and 
continued to look for Billie. 

But the little fellow I could not find any place in 
the house or outside, where we looked with a lantern. 
When I returned to my room I discovered why the 
old man laughed, for truly I was a funny sight. I 
had thought my coat much longer than it really was — 
that is all I am willing to say about it. I was utterly 
worn out, and every bone in my body seemed to be 
rebelling about something, still I could not sleep, but 
listened constantly for Billie. I blamed myself so 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 201 

much for not having shut up the cat and fancied I 
heard the cat chasing him. 

After a long, long time, it seemed hours, I heard 
a faint noise like a scratch on tin, and lighting a lamp 
quickly, I went to the kitchen and then listened. But 
not a sound was to be heard. At the farther end a 
bank had been cut out to make room for the kitchen, 
which gave it a dirt wall almost to the low ceiling, 
and all across this wall were many rows of shelves 
where tins of all sorts and cooking utensils were kept, 
and just above the top shelf was a hole where the cat 
could go out on the bank. I put the lamp back of me 
on the table and kept very still and looked all along 
the shelves, but saw nothing of Billie. Finally, I 
heard the little scratch again, and looking closely at 
some large tins where I thought the sound had come 
from, I saw the little squirrel. He was sitting up 
in between two of the pans that were almost his own 
color, with his head turned one side, and " hands on 
his heart," watching me inquisitively with one black 
eye. 

He was there and apparently unharmed, but to catch 
him was another matter. I approached him in the 
most cautious manner, talking and cooing to him all 
the time, and at last I caught him, and the little fellow 
was so glad to be with friends once more, he curled 
himself in my hands, and put two little wet paws 
around a thumb and held on tight. It was raining, 
and he was soaking wet, so he must have been out of 
doors. It would have been heartbreaking to have 
been obliged to come away without finding that little 
grayback, and perhaps never know what became of 
him. I know where my dear dog is, and that is bad 



202 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

enough. We heard just before leaving the post that 
men of the company had put vip a board at Hal's grave 
with his name cut in it. We knew that they loved 
him and were proud of him, but never dreamed that 
any one of them would show so much sentiment. 
Faye has taken the horses with him and Cagey also. 

The young men of Helena gave the ofificers an in- 
formal dance last night. At first it promised to be a 
jolly affair, but finally, as the evening wore on, the 
army people became more and more quiet, and at the 
last it was distressing to see the sad faces that made 
dancing seem a farce. They are going to an Indian 
country, and the separation may be long. I expect to 
remain here for the present, but shall make every effort 
to get to Benton after a while, where I will be nearly 
one hundred and fifty miles nearer Faye. The wife 
of the adjutant and her two little children are in this 
house, and other families of officers are scattered all 
over the little town. 



Cosmopolitan Hotel, Helena, Montana Territory, 
August, 1878. 

YOU will see that at last I decided to move over 
to this hotel. I made a great mistake in not com- 
ing before and getting away from the cross old house- 
keeper at the International, who could not be induced 
by entreaties, fees, or threats, to get the creepy, 
crawly things out of my room. How I wish that 
every one of them would march over to her some fine 
night and keep her awake as they have ke])t me. It 
made me so unhappy to leave Mrs. Hull there with 
a sick child, but she would not come with me, although 
she must know it would be better for her and the boy 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 203 

to be here, where everything is kept so clean and at- 
tractive. There are six wives of officers in the house, 
among them the wife of General Boiirke, who is in 
command of the regiment. She invited me to sit at 
her table, and I find it very pleasant there. She is a 
bride and almost a stranger to us. 

The weather has been playing all sorts of pranks 
upon us lately, and we hardly know whether we are in 
the far North or far South. For two weeks it was 
very warm, positively hot in this gulch, but yesterday 
we received a cooling off in the form of a brisk snow- 
storm that lasted nearly two hours. Mount Helena 
was white during the rest of the day, and even now 
long streaks of snow can be seen up and down the 
peak. But a snowstorm in August looked very tame 
after the awful cloud-burst that came upon us with- 
out warning a few days before, and seemed deter- 
mined to wash the whole town down to the Missouri 
River. 

It was about eleven o'clock, and four of us had gone 
to the shops to look at some pretty things that had 
just been brought over from a boat at Fort Benton by 
ox train. Mrs. Pierce and Mrs. Hull had stopped at a 
grocery next door, expecting to join Mrs. Joyce and 
me in a few minutes. But before they could 
make a few purchases, a few large drops of rain be- 
gan to splash down, and there was a fierce flash of 
lightning and deafening thunder, then came the del- 
uge ! Oceans of water seemed to be coming down, 
and before we realized what was happening, things 
in the street and things back of the store were being 
rushed to the valley below. 

All along the gulch runs a little stream that comes 



204 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

from the canon above the town. The stream is tiny 
and the bed is narrow. On either side of it are stores 
with basements opening out on these banks. Well, in 
an alarmingly short time that innocent-looking little 
creek had become a roaring, foaming black river, car- 
rying tables, chairs, washstands, little bridges — in 
fact everything it could tear up — along with it to the 
valley. Many of these pieces of furniture lodged 
against the carriage bridge that was just below the 
store where we were, making a dangerous dam, so a 
man with a stout rope around his waist went in the 
water to throw them out on the bank, but he was 
tossed about like a cork, and could do nothing. Just 
as they were about to pull him in the bridge gave way, 
and it was with the greatest difficulty he was kept 
from being swept down with the floating furniture. 
He was dragged back to our basement in an almost 
unconscious condition, and with many cuts and 
bruises. 

The water was soon in the basements of the stores, 
where it did much damage. The store we were in 
is owned by a young man — one of the beaux of the 
town — and I think the poor man came near losing his 
mind. He rushed around pulling his hair one second, 
and wringing his hands the next, and seemed perfectly 
incapable of giving one order, or assisting his clerks 
in bringing the dripping goods from the basement. 
Very unlike the complacent, diamond-pin young man 
we had danced with at the balls ! 

The cloud-burst on Mount Helena had caused many 
breaks in the enormous ditches that run around the 
mountain and carry water to the mines on the other 
side. No one can have the faintest conception of how 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 205 

terrible a cloud-burst is until they have been in one. 
It is like standing under an immense waterfall. At 
the very beginning we noticed the wagon of a coun- 
tryman across the street with one horse hitched to it. 
The horse was tied so the water from an eaves trough 
poured directly upon his back, and not liking that, 
he stepped forward, which brought the powerful 
stream straight to the wagon. 

Unfortunately for the owner, the wagon had been 
piled high with all sorts of packages, both large and 
small, and all in paper or paper bags. One by one 
these were swept out, and as the volume of water in- 
creased in force and the paper became wet and easily 
torn, their contents went in every direction. Down in 
the bottom was a large bag of beans, and when the 
pipe water reached this, there was a white spray re- 
sembling a geyser. Not one thing was left in that 
wagon — even sacks of potatoes and grain were washed 
out! It is a wonder that the poor horse took it all 
as patiently as he did. 

During all this time we had not even heard from 
our friends next door ; after a while, however, we got 
together, but it was impossible to return to the hotel 
for a long time, because of the great depth of water 
in the street. Mrs. Pierce, whose house is on the 
opposite side of the ravine, could not get to her home 
until just before dark, after a temporary bridge had 
been built across the still high stream. Not one bridge 
was left across the creek, and they say that nothing 
has been left at Chinatown — that it was washed clean. 
Perhaps there is nothing to be regretted in this, how- 
ever, except that any amount of dirt has been piled up 
right in the heart of Helena. The millionaire resi- 



2o6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

dents seem to think that the great altitude and dry 
atmosphere will prevent any ill effects of decaying 
debris. 

We went to the assay building the other day to see 
a brick of gold taken from the furnace. The mold 
was run out on its little track soon after we got there, 
and I never dreamed of what " white heat " really 
means, until I saw the oven of that awful furnace. 
We had to stand far across the room while the door 
was open, and even then the hot air that shot out 
seemed blasting. The men at the furnace were pro- 
tected, of course. The brick mold was in another 
mold that after a while was put in cold water, so we 
had to wait for first the large and then the small to 
be opened before we saw the beautiful yellow brick 
that was still very hot, but we were assured that it was 
then too hard to be in danger of injury. It was of 
the largest size, and shaped precisely like an ordinary 
building brick, and its value was great. It was to be 
shipped on the stage the next morning on its way 
to the treasury in Washington. 

It is wonderful that so few of those gold bricks are 
stolen from the stage. The driver is their only pro- 
tector, and the stage route is through miles and miles 
of wild forests, and in between huge boulders where 
a " hold-up " could be so easily accomplished. 



Camp on Marias River, Montana Territory, 
September, 1878. 

AN old proverb tells us that " All things come to 

-tj^ him who waits," but I never had faith in this, 

for I have patiently waited many times for things that 

never found me. But this time, after I had waited 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 207 

and waited the tiresome summer through, ever hop- 
ing to come to Fort Benton, and when I was about 
discouraged, " things come," and here I am in camp 
with Faye, and ever so much more comfortable than 
I would have been at the little old hotel at Benton. 

There are only two companies here now — all the 
others having gone with regimental headquarters to 
Fort Shaw — otherwise I could not be here, for I could 
not have come to a large camp. Our tents are at the 
extreme end of the line in a grove of small trees, and 
next to ours is the doctor's, so we are quite cut off 
from the rest of the camp. Cagey is here, and Faye 
has a very good soldier cook, so the little mess, includ- 
ing the doctor, is simply fine. I am famished all the 
time, for everything tastes so delicious after the dread- 
ful hotel fare. The two horses are here, and I brought 
my saddle over, and this morning Faye and I had a de- 
lightful ride out on the plain. But how I did miss 
my dear dog! He was always so happy when with 
us and the horses, and his joyous bounds and little 
runs after one thing and another added much to the 
pleasure of our rides. 

Fort Benton is ten miles from camp, and Faye met 
me there with an ambulance. I was glad enough to get 
away from that old stage. It was one of the jerky, 
bob-back-and-forth kind that pitches you off the seat 
every five minutes. The first two or three times you 
bump heads with the passenger sitting opposite, you 
can smile and apologize with some grace, but after 
a while your hat will not stay in place and your head 
becomes sensitive, and finally you discover that the 
passenger is the most disagreeable person you ever 
saw, and that the man sitting beside you is inconsid- 



2o8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

erate and selfish, and really occupying two thirds of 
the seat. 

We came a distance of one hundred and forty miles, 
getting fresh horses every twenty miles or so. The 
morning we left Helena was glorious, and I was half 
ashamed because I felt so happy at coming from the 
town, where so many of my friends were in sorrow, 
but tried to console myself with the fact that I had 
been ordered away by Doctor Gordon. There were 
many cases of typhoid fever, and the rheumatic fever 
that has made Mrs. Sargent so ill has developed into 
typhoid, and there is very little hope for her recovery. 

The driver would not consent to my sitting on top 
with him, so I had to ride inside with three men. 
They were not rough-looking at all, and their clothes 
looked clean and rather new, but gave one the impres- 
sion that they had been made for other people. Their 
pale faces told that they were " tenderfeet," and one 
could see there was a sad lacking of brains all around. 

The road comes across a valley the first ten or 
twelve miles, and 'then runs into a magnificent canon 
that is sixteen miles long, called Prickly-Pear Canon. 
As I wrote some time ago, everything is brought up 
to this country by enormous ox trains, some coming 
from the railroad at Corinne, and some that come 
from Fort Benton during the Summer, having been 
brought up by boat on the Missouri River. In the 
canons these trains are things to be dreaded. The 
roads are very narrow and the grades often long and 
steep, with immense boulders above and below. 

We met one of those trains soon after we entered 
the cafion, and at the top of a grade where the road 
was scarcely wider than the stage itself and seemed 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 209 

to be cut into a wall of solid rock. Just how we were 
to pass those huge wagons I did not see. But the 
driver stopped his horses and two of the men got out, 
the third stopping on the step and holding on to the 
stage so it was impossible for me to get out, unless 
I went out the other door and stood on the edge of an 
awful precipice. The driver looked back, and not 
seeing me, bawled out, " Where is the lady? " " Get 
the lady out!" The man on the step jumped down 
then, but the driver did not put his reins down, or 
move from his seat until he had seen me safely on the 
ground and had directed me where to stand. 

In the meantime some of the train men had come 
up, and, as soon as the stage driver was ready, they 
proceeded to lift the stage — trunks and all — over and 
on some rocks and tree tops, and then the four horses 
were led around in between other rocks, where it 
seemed impossible for them to stand one second. 
There were three teams to come up, each consisting 
of about eight yoke of oxen and three or four wagons. 
It made me almost ill to see the poor patient oxen 
straining and pulling up the grade those huge wagons 
so heavily loaded. The crunching and groaning of 
the wagons, rattling of the enormous cable chains, and 
the creaking of the heavy yokes of the oxen were 
awful sounds, but above all came the yells of the 
drivers, and the sharp, pistol-like reports of the long 
whips that they mercilessly cracked over the backs of 
the poor beasts. It was most distressing. 

After the wagons had all passed, men came back 
and set the stage on the road in the same indiflferent 
way and with very few words. Each man seemed to 
know just what to do, as though he had been train- 



2IO ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ing for years for the moving of that particular stage. 
The horses had not stirred and had paid no attention 
to the yelHng and cracking of whips. While coming 
through the canons we must have met six or seven 
of those trains, every one of which necessitated the 
setting in mid-air of the stage coach. It was the same 
performance always, each man knowing just what to 
do, and doing it, too, without loss of time. Not once 
did the driver put down the reins until he saw that 
" the lady " was safely out and it was ever with the 
same sing-song, " balance to the right," voice that he 
asked about me — except once, when he seemed to think 
more emphasis was needed, when he made the cafion 
ring by yelling, " Why in hell don't you get the lady 
out ! " But the lady always got herself out. Rough 
as he was, I felt intuitively that I had a protector. 
We stopped at Rock Creek for dinner, and there he 
saw that I had the best of everything, and it was the 
same at Spitzler's, where we had supper. 

We got fresh horses at The Leavings, and when 
I saw a strange driver on the seat my heart sank, 
fearing that from there on I might not have the same 
protection. We were at a large ranch — sort of an 
inn — and just beyond was Frozen Hill. The hill was 
given that name because a number of years ago a 
terrible blizzard struck some companies of infantry 
while on it, and before they could get to the valley be- 
low, or to a place of shelter, one half of the men were 
more or less frozen — some losing legs, some arms. 
They had been marching in thin clothing that was 
more or less damp from perspiration, as the day had 
been excessively hot. These blizzards are so fierce 
and wholly blinding, it is unsafe to move a step if 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 211 

caught out in one on the plains, and the troops prob- 
ably lost their bearings as soon as the storm struck 
them. 

It was almost dark when we got in the stage to go 
on, and I thought it rather queer that the driver should 
have asked us to go to the corral, instead of his driv- 
ing around to the ranch for us. Very soon we were 
seated, but we did not start, and there seemed to be 
something wrong, judging by the w^ay the stage was 
being jerked, and one could feel, too, that the brake 
was on. One by one those men got out, and just as 
the last one stepped down on one side the heads of 
two cream-colored horses appeared at the open door 
on the other side, their big troubled eyes looking 
straight at me. 

During my life on the frontier I have seen enough 
of native horses to know that when a pair of excited 
mustang leaders try to get inside a stage, it is time 
for one to get out, so I got out ! One of those men 
passengers instantly called to me, " You stay in 
there!" I asked, "Why?" "Because it is perfectly 
safe," said a second man. I was very indignant at 
being spoken to in this way and turned my back to 
them. The driver got the leaders in position, and then 
looking around, said to me that when the balky 
wheelers once started they would run up the hill " like 
the devil," and I would surely be left unless I was in- 
side the stage. 

I knew that he was telling the truth, and if he had 
been the first man to tell me to get in the coach I 
would have done so at once, but it so happened that 
he was the fourth, and by that time I was beginning 
to feel abused. It was bad enough to have to obey 



212 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

just one man, when at home, and then to have four 
strange men — three of them idiots, too — suddenly take 
upon themselves to order me around was not to be 
endured. I had started on the trip with the expecta- 
tion of taking care of myself, and still felt competent 
to do so. Perhaps I was very tired, and perhaps I 
was very cross. At all events I told the driver I would 
not get in — that if I was left I would go back to the 
ranch. So- I stayed outside, taking great care, how- 
ever, to stand close to the stage door. 

The instant I heard the loosening of the brake I 
jumped up on the step, and catching a firm hold each 
side of the door, was about to step in when one of 
those men passengers grabbed my arm and tried to 
jerk me back, so he could get in ahead of me! It 
was a dreadful thing for anyone to do, for if my hands 
and arms had not been unusually strong from rid- 
ing hard-mouthed horses, I would undoubtedly have 
been thrown underneath the big wheels and horribly 
crushed, for the four horses were going at a terrific 
gait, and the jerky was swaying like a live thing. As 
it was, anger and indignation gave me extra strength 
and I scrambled inside with nothing more serious hap- 
pening than a bruised head. But that man ! He 
pushed in back of me and, not knowing the nice little 
ways of jerkies, was pitched forward to the floor with 
an awful thud. But after a second or so he pulled 
himself up on his seat, which was opposite mine, and 
there we two sat in silence and in darkness. I noticed 
the next morning that there was a big bruise on one 
side of his face, at the sight of which I rejoiced very 
much. 

It was some distance this side of the hill when the 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 213 

driver stopped his horses and waited for the two men 
who had been left. They seemed much exhausted 
when they came up, but found sufficient breath to 
abuse the driver for having left them ; but he at once 
roared out, " Get in, I tell you, or I'll leave you sure 
enough ! " That settled matters, and we started on 
again. Very soon those men fell asleep and rolled off 
their seats to the floor, where they snored and had 
bad dreams. I was jammed in a corner without 
mercy, and of course did not sleep one second during 
the long wretched night. Twice we stopped for fresh 
horses, and at both places I walked about a little to 
rest my cramped feet and limbs. At breakfast the 
next morning I asked the driver to let me ride on 
top with him, which he consented to, and from there 
on to Benton I had peace and fresh air — the glorious 
air of Montana. 

Yesterday — the day after I got here — I was posi- 
tively ill from the awful shaking up, mental as well as 
physical, I received on that stage ride. We reached 
Benton at eleven. Faye was at the hotel with 
an ambulance when the stage drove up, and it was 
amusing to look at the faces of those men when they 
saw Faye in his uniform, and the government outfit. 
We started for camp at once, and left them standing 
on the hotel porch watching us as we drove down the 
street. It is a pity that such men cannot be com- 
pelled to serve at least one enlistment in the Army, and 
be drilled into something that resembles a real man. 
But perhaps recruiting officers would not accept them. 



15 



214 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
October, 1878. 

MY Stay at the little town of Sun River Crossing 
was short, for when I arrived there the other 
(lay in the stage from Benton, I found a note await- 
ing me from Mrs. Bourke, saying that I must come 
right on to Fort Shaw, so I got back in the stage 
and came to the post, a distance of five miles, where 
General Bourke was on the lookout for me. He is in 
command of the regiment as well as the post, as Colo- 
nel Fitz-James is still in Europe. Of course regi- 
mental headquarters and the band are here, which 
makes the garrison seem very lively to me. The band 
is out at guard mounting every pleasant morning, and 
each Friday evening there is a fine concert in the hall 
by the orchestra, after which we have a little dance. 
The sun shines every day, but the air is cool and crisp 
and one feels that ice and snow are not very far off. 

The order for the two companies on the Marias to 
return to the Milk River country was most unex- 
pected. That old villain Sitting Bull, chief of the 
Sioux Indians, made an official complaint to the 
" Great Father " that the half-breeds were on land that 
belonged to his people, and were killing buffalo that 
were theirs also. So the companies have been sent 
up to arrest the half-breeds and conduct them to Fort 
Belknap, and to break up their villages and burn 
their cabins. The officers disliked the prospect of 
doing all this very much, for there must be many 
women and little children among them. Just how 
long it will take no one can tell, but probably three or 
four weeks. 

And while Faye is away I am staying with General 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 215 

and Airs. Bourke. I cannot have a house until he 
comes, for quarters cannot be assigned to an officer 
until he has reported for duty at a post. There are 
two companies of the old garrison here still, and this 
has caused much doubling up among the lieutenants — 
that is, assigning one set of quarters to two officers — 
but it has been arranged so we can be by ourselves. 
Four rooms at one end of the hospital have been cut 
ofif from the hospital proper by a heavy partition that 
has been put up at the end of the long corridor, and 
these rooms are now being calcimined and painted. 
They were originally intended for the contract sur- 
geon. We will have our own little porch and entrance 
hall and a nice yard back of the kitchen. It will all be 
so much more private and comfortable in every way 
than it could possibly have been in quarters with an- 
other family. 

It is delightful to be in a nicely furnished, well- 
regulated house once more. The buildings are all 
made of adobe, and the officers' quarters have low, 
broad porches in front, and remind me a little of the 
houses at Fort Lyon, only of course these are larger 
and have more rooms. There are nice front 
yards, and on either side of the officers' walk is a 
row of beautiful cottonwood trees that form a com- 
plete arch. They are watered by an acequia that 
brings water from Sun River several miles above the 
post. The post is built along the banks of that river 
but I do not see from what it derived its name, for 
the water is muddy all the time. The country about 
here is rather rolling, but there are two large buttes — 
one called Square Butte that is really grand, and 
the other is Crown Butte. The drives up and down 



2i6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

the river are lovely, and I think that Bettie and I 
will soon have many pleasant mornings together on 
these roads. After the slow dignified drives I am 
taking almost every day, I wonder how her skittish, 
affected ways will seem to me ! 

I am so glad to be with the regiment again — that is, 
with old friends, although seeing them in a garrison 
up in the Rocky Mountains is very diflferent from the 
life in a large city in the far South! Four companies 
are still at Fort Missoula, where the major of the 
regiment is in command. Our commanding officer 
and his wife were there also during the winter, there- 
fore those of us who were at Helena and Camp Baker, 
feel that we must entertain them in some way. Conse- 
quently, now that everyone is settled, the dining and 
wining has begun. Almost every day there is a din- 
ner or card party given in their honor, and several 
very delightful luncheons have been given. And then 
the members of the old garrison, according to army 
etiquette, have to entertain those that have just come, 
so altogether we are very gay. The dinners are usu- 
ally quite elegant, formal afifairs, beautifully served 
with dainty china and handsome silver. The officers 
appear at these in full-dress uniform, and that adds 
much to the brilliancy of things, but not much to the 
comfort of the officers, I imagine. 

Everyone is happy in the fall, after the return of 
the companies from their hard and often dangerous 
summer campaign, and settles down for the winter. 
It is then that we feel we can feast and dance, and it 
is then, too, that garrison life at a frontier post be- 
comes so delightful. We are all very fond of dancing, 
so I think that Faye and I will give a cotillon later on. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 217 

In fact, it is about all we can do while living in those 
four rooms. 

We have Episcopal service each alternate Sunday, 
when the Rev. Mr. Clark comes from Helena, a dis- 
tance of eighty-five miles, to hold one service for the 
garrison here and one at the very small village of Sun 
River. And once more Major Pierce and I are in the 
same choir. Doctor Gordon plays the organ, and 
beautifully, too. For some time he was organist in a 
church at Washington, and of course knows the ser- 
vice perfectly. Our star, however, is a sergeant! He 
came to this country with an opera troupe, but an at- 
tack of diphtheria ruined his voice for the stage, so he 
enlisted! His voice (barytone) is still of exquisite 
quality, and just the right volume for our hall. 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
January, 1879. 

THERE has been so much going on in the garri- 
son, and so much for me to attend to in getting 
the house settled, I have not had time to write more 
than the note I sent about dear little Billie. I miss 
him dreadfully, for, small as he was, he was always 
doing something cunning, always getting into mis- 
chief. He died the day we moved to this house, and 
it hurts even now when I think of how I was kept 
from caring for him the last day of his short life. 
And he wanted to be with me, too, for when I put 
him in his box he would cling to my fingers and 
try to get back to me. It is such a pity that we ever 
cracked his nuts. His lower teeth had grown to per- 
fect little tusks that had bored a hole in the roof of 
his mouth. As soon as that was discovered, we had 



2i8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

them cut off, but it was too late — the httle grayback 
would not eat. 

We are almost settled now, and Sam, our Chinese 
cook, is doing splendidly. At first there was trouble, 
and I had some difficulty in convincing him that I was 
mistress of my own house and not at all afraid of him. 
Cagey has gone back to Holly Springs. He had be- 
come utterly worthless during the summer camp, 
where he had almost nothing to do. 

Our little entertainment for the benefit of the mis- 
sion here was a wonderful success. Every seat was 
occupied, every corner packed, and we were afraid 
that the old theater might collapse. We made eighty 
dollars, clear of all expenses. The tableaux were 
first, so the small people could be sent home early. 
Then came our pantomime. Sergeant Thompson sang 
the words and the orchestra played a soft accompani- 
ment that made the whole thing most effective. Major 
Pierce was a splendid Villikins, and as Dinah I re- 
ceived enough applause to satisfy anyone, but the 
curtain remained down, motionless and unresponsive, 
just because I happened to be the wife of the stage 
manager ! 

The prison scene and Miserere from II Trovatore 
were beautiful. Sergeant Mann instructed each one 
of the singers, and the result was far beyond our 
expectations. Of course the fine orchestra of twenty 
pieces was a great addition and support. Our duet 
was not sung, because I was seized with an attack of 
stage fright at the last rehearsal, so Sergeant Mann 
sang an exquisite solo in place of the duet, which was 
ever so much nicer. I was with Mrs. Joyce in one 
scene of her pantomime, " John Smith/' which was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 219 

far and away the best part of the entertainment. Mrs. 
Joyce was charming, and showed us what a really fine 
actress she is. The enlisted men went to laugh, and 
they kept up a good-natured clapping and laughing 
from first to last. 

It was surprising that so many of the Sun River 
and ranch people came, for the night was terrible, 
even for Montana, and the roads must have been im- 
passable in places. Even here in the post there were 
great drifts of snow, and the path to the theater was 
cut through banks higher than our heads. It had been 
mild and pleasant for weeks, and only two nights 
before the entertainment we had gone to the hall for 
rehearsal with fewer wraps than usual. We had been 
there about an hour, I think, when the corporal of the 
guard came in to report to the officer of the day, that 
a fierce blizzard was making it impossible for sentries 
to walk post. His own appearance told better than 
words what the storm was. He had on a long buffalo 
coat, muskrat cap and gauntlets, and the fur from his 
head down, also heavy overshoes, were filled with 
snow, and at each end of his mustache were icicles 
hanging. He made a fine, soldierly picture as he 
brought his rifle to his side and saluted. The officer 
of the day hurried out, and after a time returned, he 
also smothered in furs and snow. He said the storm 
was terrific and he did not see how many of us could 
possibly get to our homes. 

But of course we could not remain in the hall until 
the blizzard had ceased, so after rehearsing a little 
more, we wrapped ourselves up as well as we could 
and started for our homes. The wind was blowing 
at hurricane speed, I am sure, and the heavy fall of 



220 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

snow was being carried almost horizontally, and how 
each frozen flake did sting! Those of us who lived 
in the garrison could not go very far astray, as the 
fences were on one side and banks of snow on the 
other, but the light snow had already drifted in be- 
tween and made walking very slow and difficult. We 
all got to our different homes finally, with no greater 
mishap than a few slightly frozen ears and noses. 
Snow had banked up on the floor inside of our front 
door so high that for a few minutes Faye and I 
thought that we could not get in the house. 

Major Pierce undertook to see Mrs. Elmer safely 
to her home at the sutler's store, and in order to get 
there they were obliged to cross a wide space in be- 
tween the officers' line and the store. Nothing could 
be seen ten feet from them when they left the last 
fence, but they tried to get their bearings by the line 
of the fence, and closing their eyes, dashed ahead into 
the cloud of blinding, stinging snow. Major Pierce 
had expected to go straight to a side door of the store, 
but the awful strength of the wind and snow pushed 
them over, and they struck a corner of the fence 
farthest away — in fact, they would have missed the 
fence also if Mrs. Elmer's fur cape had not caught on 
one of the pickets, and gone out on the plains to cer- 
tain death. Bright lights had been placed in the store 
windows, but not one had they seen. These storms 
kill so many range cattle, but the most destructive of 
all is a freeze after a chinook, that covers the 
ground with ice so it is impossible for them to get to 
the grass. At such times the poor animals suffer 
cruelly. We often hear them lowing, sometimes for 
days, and can easily imagine that we see the starving 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 221 

beasts wandering on and on, ever in search of an un- 
covered bit of grass. The lowing of hundreds of 
cattle on a cold winter night is the most horrible sound 
one can imagine. 

Cold as it is, I ride Bettie almost every day, but only 
on the high ground where the snow has been blown 
ofif. We are a funny sight sometimes when we come 
in — Bettie's head, neck, and chest white with her fro- 
zen breath, icicles two or three inches long hanging 
from each side of her chin, and my fur collar and cap 
white also. I wear a sealskin cap with broad ear tabs, 
long sealskin gauntlets that keep my hands and arms 
warm, and high leggings and moccasins of beaver, 
but with the fur inside, which makes them much 
warmer. A tight chamois skin waist underneath my 
cadet-cloth habit and a broad fur collar completes a 
riding costume that keeps me warm without being 
bungling. I found a sealskin coat too warm and 
heavy. 

No one will ride now and they do not know what 
fine exercise they are missing. And I am sure that 
Bettie is glad to get her blood warm once during the 
twenty-four hours. Friends kindly tell me that some 
day I will be found frozen out on the plains^ and 
that the frisky Bettie will kill me, and so on. I ride 
too fast to feel the cold, and Bettie I enjoy — all but 
the airs she assumes inside the post. Our house is 
near the center of the officers' line, and no matter 
which way I go or what I do, that little beast can 
never be made to walk one step until we get out on 
the road, but insists upon going sideways, tossing her 
head, and giving little rears. It looks so affected and 
makes me feel very foolish, particularly since Mrs. 



222 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Conger said to me the other day : " Why do you make 
your horse dance that way — he might throw you." I 
then asked her if she would not kindly ride Bettie a 
few times and teach her to keep her feet down. But 
she said it was too cold to go out ! 

We have much more room in this house than we had 
in the hospital, and are more comfortable every way. 
Almost every day or evening there is some sort of an 
entertainment — german, dinner, luncheon, or card 
party. I am so glad that we gave the first cotillon 
that had ever been given in the regiment, for it was 
something new on the frontier ; therefore everyone en- 
joyed it. Just now the garrison seems to have gone 
cotillon crazy, and not being satisfied with a number 
of private ones, a german club has been organized that 
gives dances in the hall every two weeks. So far 
Faye has been the leader of each one. With all this 
pleasure, the soldiers are not being neglected. Every 
morning there are drills and a funny kind of target 
practice inside the quarters, and of course there are 
inspections and other things. 



Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, 
January, 1879. 

IT is still cold, stinging cold, and we are beginning 
to think that there was much truth in what we 
were told on our way over last fall — that Fort Ellis 
is the very coldest place in the whole territory. For 
two days the temperature was fifty below, and I can 
assure you that things hummed ! The logs of our 
house made loud reports like pistol shots, and there 
was frost on the walls of every room that were not 
near roaring fires. No one ventures forth such 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 223 

weather unless compelled to do so, and then, of course, 
every precaution is taken to guard against freezing. 
In this altitude one will freeze before feeling the cold, 
as I know from experience, having at the present time 
two fiery red ears of enormous size. They are fiery 
in feeling, too, as well as in color. 

The atmosphere looks like frozen mist, and is 
wonderful, and almost at any time between sunrise 
and sunset a " sun dog " can be seen with its scintil- 
lating rainbow tints, that are brilliant yet exquisitely 
delicate in coloring. Our houses are really very warm 
— the thick logs are plastered inside and papered, 
every window has a storm sash and every room a 
double floor, and our big stoves can burn immense 
logs. But notwithstanding all this, our greatest trial 
is to keep things to eat. Everything freezes solid, 
and so far we have not found one edible that is im- 
proved by freezing. It must be awfully discouraging 
to a cook to find on a biting cold morning, that there 
is not one thing in the house that can be prepared for 
breakfast until it has passed through the thawing 
process ; that even the water in the barrels has become 
solid, round pieces of ice! All along the roof of one 
side of our house are immense icicles that almost 
touch the snow on the ground. These are a reminder 
of the last chinook ! 

But only last week it was quite pleasant — not real 
summery, but warm enough for one to go about in 
safety. Faye came down from the saw-mill one of 
those days to see the commanding officer about some- 
thing and to get the mail. When he was about to 
start back, in fact, was telling me good-by, I hap- 
pened to say that I wished I could go, too. Faye 



224 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

said : " You could not stand the exposure, but you 
might wear my little fur coat." Suggesting the coat 
was a give-in that I at once took advantage of, and 
in precisely twenty minutes Charlie, our Chinese cook, 
had been told what to do, a few articles of clothing 
wrapped and strapped, and I on Bettie's back ready 
for the wilds. An old soldier on a big corral horse 
was our only escort, and to his saddle were fastened 
our various bags and bundles. 

Far up a narrow valley that lies in between two 
mountain ranges, the government has a saw-mill that 
is worked by twenty or more soldiers under the super- 
vision of an officer, where lumber can be cut when 
needed for the post. One of these ranges is very 
high, and Mount Bridger. first of the range and 
nearest Fort Ellis, along whose base we had to go, 
has snow on its top most of the year. Often when 
wind is not noticeable at the post, we can see the 
light snow being blown with terrific force from the 
peak of this mountain for hundreds of yards in a per- 
fectly horizontal line, when it will spread out and 
fall in a magnificent spray another two or three hun- 
dred feet. 

The mill is sixteen miles from Fort Ellis, and the 
snow was very deep — so deep in places that the horses 
had difficulty in getting their feet forward, and as 
we got farther up, the valley narrowed into a ravine 
where the snow was even deeper. There was no road 
or even trail to be seen ; the bark on trees had been 
cut to mark the way. but far astray we could not have 
gone unless we had deliberately ridden up the side of 
a mountain. The onlv thing that resembled a house 
along the sixteen miles was a deserted cabin about 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 225 

half way up, and which only accentuated the awful 
loneliness. 

Bettie had been standing in the stable for several 
days, and that, with the biting cold air in the valley, 
made her entirely too frisky, and she was very nervous, 
too, over the deep snow that held her feet down. We 
went Indian file — I always in the middle — as there 
were little grades and falling-oflf places all along that 
were hidden by the snow, and I was cautioned con- 
stantly by Faye and Bryant to keep my horse in line. 
The snow is very fine and dry in this altitude, and 
never packs as it does in a more moist atmosphere. 

When we had ridden about one half the distance 
up we came to a little hill, at the bottom of which 
was known to be a bridge that crossed the deep-cut 
banks of one of those mountain streams that are dry 
eleven months of the year and raging torrents the 
twelfth, when the snow melts. It so happened that 
Faye did not get on this bridge just right, so down 
in the light snow he and Pete went, and all that we 
could see of them were Faye's head and shoulders 
and the head of the horse with the awful bulging 
eyes ! Poor Pete was terribly frightened, and floun- 
dered about until he nearly buried himself in snow 
as he tried to find something solid upon which to put 
his feet. 

I was just back of Faye when he went down, but 
the next instant I had retreated to the top of the hill, 
and had to use all the strength in my arms tO' avoid 
being brought back to the post. When Bettie saw 
Pete go down, she whirled like a flash and with two 
or three bounds was on top of the hill again. She 
was awfully frightened and stood close to Bryant's 



226 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

horse, trembling all over. Poor Bryant did not know 
what to do or which one to assist, so I told him to 
go down and get the lieutenant up on the bank and I 
would follow. Just how Faye got out of his difficulty 
I did not see, for I was too busy attending to my 
own affairs. Bettie acted as though she was be- 
witched, and go down to the bridge she would not. 
Finally, when I was about tired out, Faye said we 
must not waste more time there and that I had better 
ride Pete. 

So I dismounted and the saddles were changed, 
and then there was more trouble. Pete had never been 
ridden by a woman before, and thinking, perhaps, that 
his sudden one-sidedness was a part of the bridge per- 
formance, at once protested by jumps and lunges, but 
he soon quieted down and we started on again. Bettie 
danced a little with Faye, but that was all. She evi- 
dently remembered her lost battle with him at Camp 
Baker, 

It was almost dark when we reached the saw-mill, 
and as soon as it became known that I was with the 
" lieutenant " every man sprang up from some place 
underneath the snow to look at me, and two or three 
ran over to assist Bryant with our things. It was 
awfully nice to know that I was a person of im- 
portance, even if it was out in a camp in the moun- 
tains where probably a woman had never been before. 
The little log cabin built for officers had only the one 
long room, with large, comfortable bunk, two tables, 
chairs, a " settle " of pine boards, and near one end 
of the room was a box stove large enough to heat 
two rooms of that size. By the time my stiffened body 
could get inside, the stove had been filled to the top 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



229 



with pine wood that roared and crackled in a most 
cheerful and inviting manner. 

But the snow out there ! I do not consider it ad- 
visable to tell the exact truth, so I will simply say that 
it was higher than the cabin, but that for some reason 
it had left an open space of about three feet all around 
the logs, and that gave us air and light through win- 
dows which had been thoughtfully placed unusually 
high. The long stable, built against a bank, where the 
horses and mules were kept, was entirely buried under- 
neath the snow, and you would never have dreamed 
that there was anything whatever there unless you 
had seen the path that had been shoveled down to the 
door. The cabin the men lived in, I did not see at 
all. We were in a ravine where the pine forest was 
magnificent, but one could see that the trees were 
shortened many feet by the great depth of snow. 

Our meals were brought to us by Bryant from the 
soldiers' mess, and as the cook was only a pick-up, 
they were often a mess indeed, but every effort was 
made to have them nice. The day after we got there 
the cook evidently made up his mind that some recog- 
nition should be shown of the honor of my presence in 
the woods, so he made a big fat pie for my dinner. 
It was really fat, for the crust must have been mostly 
of lard, and the poor man had taken much pains with 
the decorations of twisted rings and little balls that 
were on the top. It really looked very nice as Bry- 
ant set it down on the table in front of me, with an 
air that the most dignified of butlers might have 
envied, and said, " Compliments of the cook, ma'am ! " 
Of course I was, and am still, delighted with the 
attention from the cook, but for some reason I was 
16 



230 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

suspicious of that pie, it was so very high up, so I 
continued to talk about it admiringly until after Bry- 
ant had gone from the cabin, and then I tried to cut 
it! The filling — and there was an abundance — was 
composed entirely of big, hard raisins that still had 
their seeds in. The knife could not cut them, so they 
rolled over on the table and on the floor, much like 
marbles. I scooped out a good-sized piece as well as 
I could, gathered up the runaway raisins, and then — 
put it in the stove. 

And this I did at every dinner while I was there, 
almost trembling each time for fear Bryant would 
come in and discover how the pie was being disposed 
of. It lasted long, for I could not cut ofif a piece 
for Faye, as Bryant had given us to understand in 
the beginning that the chef d'ocuvre was for me 
only. 

Nothing pleases me more than to have the enlisted 
men pay me some little attention, and when the day af- 
ter the pie a beautiful little gray squirrel was brought 
to me in a nice airy box, I was quite overcome. He is 
very much like Billie in size and color, which seems 
remarkable, since Billie was from the far South and 
this little fellow from the far North. I wanted to take 
him out of the box at once, but the soldier said he 
would bite, and having great respect for the teeth of 
a squirrel, I let him stay in his prison while we were 
out there. 

The first time I let him out after we got home he 
was frantic, and jumped on the mantel, tables, and 
chairs, scattering things right and left. Finally he 
started to run up a lace window curtain back of the 
sewing machine. On top of the machine was a plate 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 231 

of warm cookies that Charlie had just brought to me, 
and getting a sniff of those the squirrel stopped in- 
stantly, hesitated just a second, and then over he 
jumped, took a cookie with his paws and afterwards 
held it with his teeth until he had settled himself com- 
fortably, when he again took it in his paws and pro- 
ceeded to eat with the greatest relish. After he had 
eaten all he very well could, he hid the rest back of 
the curtain in quite an at-home way. There was noth- 
ing at all wonderful in all this, except that the squirrel 
was just from the piney woods whei^e warm sugar 
cakes are unknown, so how did he know they were 
good to eat? 

I was at the saw-mill four days, and then we all 
came in together and on bob sleds. There were four 
mules for each sleigh, so not much attention was paid 
to the great depth of snow. Both horses knew when 
we got to the bridge and gave Bryant trouble. Every 
bit of the trail out had been obliterated by drifting 
snow, and I still wonder how these animals recognized 
the precise spot when the snow was level in every 
place. 

We found the house in excellent order, and consider 
our new Chinaman a treasure. A few days before 
Faye went to the mill I made some Boston brown 
bread, I always make that myself, as I fancy I can 
make it very good, but for some reason I was late in 
getting it on to steam that day, so when I went to the 
kitchen to put it in the oven I found a much-abused 
Chinaman. When he saw what I was about to do he 
became very angry and his eyes looked green. He 
said, " You no put him in I'oven." I said, " Yes, 
Charlie, I have to for one hour." He said, " You no 



232 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

care workman, you sploil my dee-nee, you get some 
other boy." 

Now Charlie was an excellent servant and I did not 
care to lose him, but to take that bread out was not 
to be considered. I would no longer have been mis- 
tress of my own house, so I told him quietly, " Very 
well," and closed the oven door with great deliberation. 
The dinner was a little better than usual, and I won- 
dered all the time what the outcome would be. I 
knew that he was simply piqued because I had not 
let him make the bread. After his work was all done 
he came in and said, with a smile that was almost a 
grin, " I go now — I send 'nother boy," and go he did. 
But the " other boy " came in time to give us a deli- 
cious breakfast, and everything went on just the same 
as when old Charlie was here. He is in Bozeman and 
comes to see us often. 

This Charlie takes good care of my chickens that 
are my pride and delight. There are twenty, and every 
one is snow white ; some have heavy round topknots. 
I found them at different ranches. It is so cold here 
that chicken roosts have to be covered with strips of 
blanket and made fiat and broad, so the feathers will 
cover the chickens' feet, otherwise they will be frozen. 
It is a treat to have fresh eggs, and without having 
to pay a dollar and a half per dozen for them. That 
is the price we have paid for eggs almost ever since 
we came to the Territory. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 233 

Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, 
June, 1880. 

EVERYTHING is packed and on the wagons — 
that is, all but the camp outfit which we will use 
on the trip over — and in the morning we will start on 
our way back to Fort Shaw. With the furniture 
that belongs to the quarters and the camp things, we 
were so comfortable in our own house we decided 
that there was no necessity to go to Mrs. Adams's, 
except for dinner and breakfast, although both Gen- 
eral and Mrs. Adams have been most hospitable and 
kind. 

The way these two moves have come about seems 
very funny to me. Faye was ordered over here to 
command C Company when it was left without an 
officer, because he was senior second lieutenant in the 
regiment and entitled to it. The captain of this com- 
pany has been East on recruiting service, and has just 
been relieved by Colonel Knight, captain of Faye's 
company at Shaw ; as that company is now without 
an officer, the senior second lieutenant has to re- 
turn and command his own company. This recogni- 
tion of a little rank has been expensive to us, and dis- 
agreeable too. The lieutenants are constantly being 
moved about, often details that apparently do not 
amount to much but which take much of their small 
salary. 

The Chinaman is going with us, for which I am 
most thankful, and at his request we have decided to 
take the white chickens. Open boxes have been made 
specially for them that fit on the rear ends of the 
wagons, and we think they will be very comfortable — 
but we will certainly look like emigrants when on the 



234 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

road. The two squirrels will go also. The men of 
the company have sent me three squirrels during the 
winter. The dearest one of all had been injured and 
lived only a few days. The flying squirrel is the least 
interesting and seems stupid. It will lie around and 
sleep during the entire day, but at dark will manage 
to get on some high perch and flop down on your 
shoulder or head when you least expect it and least 
desire it, too. The little uncanny thing cannot fly, 
really, but the webs enable it to take tremendous leaps. 
I expect that it looks absurd for us to be taking across 
the country a small menagerie, but the squirrels were 
presents, and of course had to go, and the chickens 
are beautiful, and give us quantities of eggs. Besides, 
if we had left the chickens, Charlie might not have 
gone, for he feeds them and watches over them as if 
they were his very own, and looks very cross if the 
striker gives them even a little corn. 

Night before last an unusually pleasant dancing 
party was given by Captain McAndrews, when Faye 
and I were guests of honor. It was such a surprise 
to us, and so kind in Captain McAndrews to give it, for 
he is a bachelor. Supper was served in his own quar- 
ters, but dancing was in the vacant set adjoining. 
The rooms were beautifully decorated wMth flags, and 
the fragrant cedar and spruce. Mrs. Adams, wife 
of the commanding officer, superintended all of the 
arrangements and also assisted in receiving. The 
supper was simply delicious — as all army suppers 
are — and I fancy that she and other ladies of the 
garrison were responsible for the perfect salads and 
cakes. 

The orchestra was from Bozeman, so the music was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 235 

very good. Quite a party of young people also, many 
of them friends of ours, came up from Bozeman, 
which not only swelled the number of guests, but gave 
life to the dance, for in a small garrison like this the 
number of partners is limited. The country about 
here is beautiful now ; the snow is melting on the 
mountains, and there is such a lovely green every 
place, I almost wish that we might have remained 
until fall, for along the valleys and through the canons 
there are grand trails for horseback riding, while 
Fort Shaw has nothing of the kind. 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
July, 1880. 

WE are with the commanding officer and his wife 
for a few days while our house is being set- 
tled. Every room has just been painted and tinted and 
looks so clean and bright. The Chinaman, squirrels, 
and chickens are there now, and are already very 
much at home, and Charlie is delighted that the 
chickens are so much admired. 

The first part of the trip over was simply awful ! 
The morning was beautiful when we left Ellis — warm 
and sunny — and everybody came to see us oflf. We 
started in fine spirits, and all went well for ten or 
twelve miles, when we got to the head waters of the 
Missouri, where the three small rivers, Gallatin, Jef- 
ferson, and Madison join and make the one big river. 
The drive through the forest right there is usually 
delightful, and although we knew that the water was 
high in the Gallatin by Fort Ellis, we were wholly un- 
prepared for the scene that confronted us when we 
reached the valley. Not one inch of ground could 



236 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

be seen — nothing but the trees surrounded by yellow, 
muddy water that showed quite a current. 

The regular stage road has been made higher than 
the ground because of these July freshets, when the 
snow is melting on the mountains, but it was impos- 
sible to keep on it, as its many turns could not be seen, 
and it would not have helped much either, as the water 
was deep. The ambulance was in the lead, of course, 
so we were in all the excitement of exploring unseen 
ground. The driver would urge the mules, and if the 
leaders did not go down, very good — we would go on, 
perhaps a few yards. If they did go down enough to 
show that it was dangerous that way, he would turn 
them in another direction and try there. Sometimes 
it was necessary almost to turn around in order to 
keep upon the higher ground. In this way mules and 
drivers worked until four o'clock in the afternoon, the 
dirty water often coming up over the floor of the am- 
bulance, and many times it looked as if we could not 
go on one step farther without being upset in the 
mud and water. 

But at four we reached an island, where there was 
a small house and a stable for the stage relay horses, 
and not far beyond was another island where Faye 
decided to camp for the night. It was the only thing 
he could have done. He insisted upon my staying 
at the house, but I finally convinced him that the 
proper place for me was in camp, and I went on with 
him. The island was very small, and the highest 
point above water could not have been over two feet. 
Of course everything had to be upon it — horses, mules, 
wagons, drivers, Faye and I, and the two small 
squirrels, and the chickens also. In addition to our 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 237 

own traveling menagerie there were native inhabitants 
of that island — millions and millions of mosquitoes, 
each one with a sharp appetite and sharp sting. We 
thought that we had learned all about vicious mos- 
quitoes while in the South, but the Southern mosqui- 
toes are slow and caressing in comparison to those 
Montana things. 

It was very warm, and the Chinaman felt sorry for 
the chickens shut up in the boxes, where fierce quar- 
rels seemed to be going on all the time. So after he 
had fed them we talked it over, and decided to let 
them out, as they could not possibly get away from 
us across the big body of water. There were twenty 
large chickens in one big box, and twenty-seven small 
ones that had been brought in a long box by them- 
selves. Well, Charlie and one of the men got the 
boxes down and opened them. At once the four or 
five mother hens clucked and scratched and kept on 
clucking until the little chicks were let out, when 
every one of them ran to its own mother, and each 
hen strutted ofif with her own brood. That is the ab- 
solute truth, but is not all. When night came the 
chickens went back to their boxes to roost — all but 
the small ones. Those were left outside with their 
mothers, and just before daylight Charlie raised a 
great commotion when he put them up for the day's 
trip. 

When we were about ready to start in the morning, 
a man came over from the house and told Faye that 
he would pilot us through the rest of the water, that 
it was very dangerous in places, where the road had 
been built up, and if a narrow route was not carefully 
follow^ed, a team would go down a bank of four or 



238 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

five feet. He had with him just the skeleton of a 
wagon — the four wheels with two or three long boards 
on top, drawn by two horses. So we went down in 
the dirty water again, that seemed to get deeper and 
deeper as we splashed on. 

Now and then I could catch a glimpse of our pilot 
standing up on the boards very much like a circus 
rider, for the wagon wheels were twisting around 
over the roots of trees and stones, in a way that re- 
quired careful balancing on his part. We got along 
very well until about noon, when a soldier came 
splashing up on a mule and told Faye that one of 
the wagons had turned over! That was dreadful 
news and made me most anxious about the trunks and 
chests, and the poor chickens, too, all of which might 
be down under the water. 

They got the ambulance under some trees, unfas- 
tened the mules and led them away, leaving me alone, 
without even the driver. The soldier had thought- 
fully led up Pete for Faye to ride back, and the 
mules were needed to assist in pulling the wagon up. 
Fortunately the wagon was caught by a tree and did 
not go entirely over, and it so happened, too, that it 
was the one loaded more with furniture than anything 
else, so not much damage was done. 

Our pilot had left us some time before, to hurry on 
and get any passengers that might come in the stage 
that runs daily between Helena and Bozeman. As 
soon as I began to look around a little after I was left 
alone in the ambulance, I discovered that not so very 
far ahead was an opening in the trees and bushes, and 
that a bit of beautiful dry land could be seen. I was 
looking at it with longing eyes when suddenly some- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



239 



thing came down the bank and on into the water, and 
not being particularly brave, I thought of the unpro- 
tected position I was in. But the terrible monster 
turned out to be our pilot, and as he came nearer, I 
saw that he had something on the wagon — whether 
men or women or mere bags of stuff I could not tell. 

But in time he got near enough for me to see that 
two men were with him — most miserable, scared tour- 
ists — both standing up on the seesawing boards, the 
first with arms around the pilot's neck, and the second 
with his arms around him. They were dressed very 
much alike, each one having on his head an immacu- 
late white straw hat, and over his coat a long — very 
long — linen duster, and they both had on gloves ! 
Their trousers were pulled up as high as they could 
get them, giving a fine display of white hose and low 
shoes. The last one was having additional woe, for 
one leg of his trousers was slipping down, and of 
course it was impossible for him to pull it up and 
keep his balance. Every turn of the wheels the thick 
yellow water was being spattered on them, and I can 
imagine the condition they were in by the time they 
reached the little inn on the island. The pilot thought 
they were funny, too, for when he passed he grinned 
and jerked his head back to call my attention to them. 
He called to know what had happened to me, and I 
told him that I was a derelict, and he would ascer- 
tain the cause farther on. 

After a while — it seemed hours to me — Faye and 
the wagons came up, and in time we got out of the 
awful mess and on dry land. It w^as the Fourth of 
July, and we all wished for a gun or something that 
would make a loud noise wherewith we could cele- 



240 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

brate — not so much the day as our rejoicing at getting 
out of the wilderness. The men were in a deplorable 
condition, wet and tired, for no one had been able 
to sleep the night before because of the vicious mos- 
quitoes and the stamping of the poor animals. So, 
when Faye saw one of the drivers go to a spring for 
water, and was told that it was a large, fine spring, 
he decided to camp right there and rest before going 
farther. 

But rest we could not, for the mosquitoes were 
there also, and almost as bad as they had been on the 
island, and the tents inside were covered with them 
as soon as they were pitched. If there is a person who 
thinks that a mosquito has no brain, and is incapable 
of looking ahead, that person will soon learn his mis- 
take if ever he comes to the Missouri River, Montana! 
The heat was fierce, too, and made it impossible for 
us to remain in the tents, so we were obliged, after 
all, to sit out under the trees until the air had cooled 
at night sufficiently to chill the mosquitoes. 

The chickens were let out at every camp, and each 
time, without fail, they flew up to their boxes on the 
wagons. Charlie would put in little temporary roosts, 
that made them more comfortable, and before day- 
light every morning he would gather up the little ones 
and the mothers and put them in the crates for the 
day. He is willing and faithful, but has queer ideas 
about some things. Just as I was getting in the am- 
bulance the second morning on the trip, I heard a 
crunching sound and then another, and looking back, 
I saw the Chinaman on top of the mess chest witli 
head bent over and elbows sticking out, jumping up 
and down with all his strength. 



'AN OFFICER'S WIFE 241 

I ran over and told him not to do so, for I saw at 
once what was the matter. But he said, " He velly bUg 
— he no go downee — me flixee him," and up and 
down he went again, harder than ever. After a 
lengthy argument he got down, and I showed him 
once more how to put the things in so the top would 
shut tight. There w^ere a good many pieces of broken 
china, and these Charlie pitched over in the water 
with a grin that plainly said, " You see — me flixee 
you ! " Of course the soldiers saw it all and laughed 
heartily, which made Charlie very angry, and gave 
him a fine opportunity to express himself in Chinese. 
The rest of the trip was pleasant, and some of the 
camps were delightful, but I am afraid that I no 
longer possess beautiful white chickens — my China- 
man seems to be the owner of all, big and small. 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
August, 1880. 

THE company has been ordered to " proceed with- 
out delay " to Fort Maginnis, a post that is just 
being established, and to assist another company in 
building temporary log quarters. The other company 
will go from Fort Missoula, and has to remain at the 
new post during the winter, but Faye's company 
will return here in November. We were all ready to 
go to the Yellowstone Park next week with Gen- 
eral and Mrs. Bourke, but this order from Department 
Headquarters upsets everything. The company was 
designated there, and go it must, although Faye has 
been at Fort Shaw only six weeks. He has command, 
of course, as Colonel Knight is East on recruiting serv- 
ice, and the first lieutenant is abroad. 



242 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

General and Mrs. Bourke could not understand at 
first why I would not go with them to the park, just 
the same, but I understood perfectly, and said at once 
that I would go to Maginnis with Faye. For, to go 
in one direction where there is only a weekly mail, 
and Faye to go in another direction where there is 
no mail at all, and through an Indian country, was 
not to be considered one second. I was half afraid 
that the commanding officer might forbid my going 
with Faye, as he could have done, but he did not, 
and when he saw that I could not be persuaded to 
change my mind, an ambulance was ordered to go 
with the command, so I can have a shelter when it 
storms, for I shall ride Bettie on the trip. 

The distance over is one hundred and fifty miles 
right across mountains and valleys, and there will be 
only a faint trail to guide us, and I am anticipating 
great delight in such a long horseback ride through a 
wild country. We will have everything for our com- 
fort, too. Faye will be in command, and that means 
much, and a young contract surgeon, who has been 
recently appointed, will go with us, and our Chinese 
cook will go also. I have always wanted to take a trip 
of this kind, and know that it will be like one long 
picnic, only much nicer. I never cared for real picnics 
— they always have so much headache with them. 
We have very little to do for the march as our camp 
outfit is in unusually fine condition. After Charlie's 
" flixee " so much mess-chest china, Faye had made 
to order a complete set for four people of white agate 
ware with blue bands. We have two sets of plates, 
vegetable dishes, cups and saucers, egg cups, soup 
plates, and a number of small pieces. The plates and 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



243 



dishes, also platters, can be folded together, and con- 
sequently require very little room, and it is a great 
comfort to know that these things are unbreakable, 
and that we will not be left without plates for the 
table when we get in the wilds, and the ware being 
white looks very nice, not in the least like tin. It 
came yesterday, just in time. 

The two squirrels I carried to the woods and turned 
loose. I could not take them, and I would not leave 
them to be neglected perhaps. The " Tiger " was still 
a tiger, and as wild and fierce as when he came from 
the saw-mill, and was undoubtedly an old squirrel not 
to be taught new tricks. The flying thing was wholly 
lacking in sense. I scattered pounds of nuts all about 
and hope that the two little animals will not suffer. 
The Chinaman insisted upon our taking those chick- 
ens ! He goes out every now and then and gives them 
big pans of food and talks to them in Chinese with a 
voice and expression that makes one almost want to 
weep, because the chickens have to be left behind. 

We are to start on the eighteenth, and on the nine- 
teenth we had expected to give a dinner — a very nice 
one, too. I am awfully sorry that we could not have 
given it before going away, for there are so many 
things to do here during the winter. The doctor has 
had no experience whatever in camp life, and we are 
wondering how he will like it. He looks like a man 
who would much prefer a nice little rocking-chair in 
a nice little room. 



244 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Camp near Junot's, in the Judith Basin, 

August, 1880. 

THIS will be left at a little trading store as we pass 
to-morrow morning, with the hope that it will 
soon be taken on to Benton and posted. 

So far, the trip has been delightful, and every bit as 
nice as I had anticipated. The day we left the post 
was more than hot — it was simply scorching; and my 
whole face on the right side, ear and all, was blistered 
before we got to the ferry. Just now I am going 
through a process of peeling which is not beautify- 
ing, and is most painful. 

Before we had come two miles it was discovered 
that a " washer " was lacking on one of the wheels of 
a wagon, and a man was sent back on a mule to get 
one. This caused a delay and made Faye cross, for 
it really was inexcusable in the wagon master to send 
a wagon out on a trip like this in that condition. The 
doctor did not start with the command, but rode up 
while we were waiting for the man with the washer. 
The soldiers were lounging on the ground near the 
wagons, talking and laughing; but when they saw 
the doctor coming, there was perfect silence over there, 
and I watched and listened, curious to see what effect 
the funny sight would have upon them. First one 
sat up, then another, and some stood up, then some 
one of them giggled, and that was quite enough to 
start everyone of them to laughing. They were too 
far away for the laughing and snickering to be dis- 
respectful, or even to be noticed much, but I knew 
why they laughed, for I laughed too. 

The doctor did not present a military ap]:)earance. 
He is the verv smallest man I ever saw, and he was on 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 245 

a government horse that is known by its great height — 
sixteen hands and two inches, I beheve — and the Httle 
man's stirrups were about half way down the horse's 
sides, and his knees almost on the horse's back. All 
three of us are wearing officers' white cork helmets, 
but the doctor's is not a success, being ever so much 
too large for his small head, consequently it had tilted 
back and found a resting place on his shoulders, cov- 
ering his ears and the upper part of his already hot 
face. For a whip he carried a little switch not much 
longer than his gauntlets, and which would have puz- 
zled the big horse, if struck by it. With it all the 
little man could not ride, and as his government sad- 
dle was evidently intended for a big person, he seemed 
uncertain as to which was the proper place to sit — 
the pommel, the middle, or the curved back. All dur- 
ing that first day's march the soldiers watched him. 
I knew this, although we were at the head of the 
column — for every time he would start his horse up 
a little I could hear smothered laughter back of us. 

It w^as late when we finally got across the Missouri 
on the funny ferryboat, so we camped for the night 
on this side near the ferryman's house.- It was the 
doctor's first experience in camp, and of course he 
did not know how to make himself comfortable. He 
suffered from the heat, and became still warmer by 
rushing up and down fanning himself and fighting 
mosquitoes. Then after dinner he had his horse sad- 
dled, a soldier helped him to mount, and he rode back 
and forth bobbing all sorts of ways, until Faye could 
stand it no longer and told him to show some mercy 
to the beast that had carried him all day, and would 
have to do the same for days to come. 
17 



246 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Most of the camps have been in beautiful places — 
always by some clear stream where often there was 
good trout fishing. In one or two of these we found 
grayling, a very gamey fish, that many epicures con- 
sider more delicate than the trout. We have a fine 
way of keeping fish for the following day. As soon 
as possible after they have been caught we pack them 
in long, wet grass and put them in a cool spot, and in 
this way they will keep remarkably fresh. 

We have had an abundance of game, too — all kinds 
of grouse and prairie chicken, and the men killed one 
antelope. The Chinaman thought that Faye shot 
quite too many birds, and began to look cross when 
they were brought in, which annoyed me exceedingly, 
and I was determined to stop it. So one evening, after 
Faye had taken some young chicken to the cook tent, 
I said to the doctor, *' Come with me," and going over 
to the tent I picked up the birds and went to some 
trees near by, and handing the doctor one, asked him 
to help me pick them, at the same time commencing 
to pull the feathers out of one myself. The poor doc- 
tor looked as though he was wishing he had made a 
specialty of dementia, and stood like a goose, looking 
at the chicken. Charlie soon became very restless — 
went inside the tent, and then came out, humming all 
the time. Finally he gave in, and coming over to us, 
fairly snatched the birds from me and said, " Me 
flixee him," and carried the whole bunch back of his 
tent where we could not see him. Since that evening 
Charlie has been the most delighted one in camp when 
Faye has brought birds in. 

All the way we have had only a faint trail to fol- 
low, and often even that could not be seen after we 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 247 

had crossed a stream. At such places Faye, the doc- 
tor, and I would spread out and search for it. As 
Bettie and I were always put in the middle, we were 
usually the finders. One day we came up a hill that 
was so steep that twelve mules had to be hitched to 
each wagon in order to get it up. Another day we 
went down a hill where the trail was so sidling, that 
the men had to fasten big ropes to the upper side of 
each wagon to hold it right side up as it was drawn 
down. Another day we made only a few miles be- 
cause of the deep-cut banks of a narrow little stream 
that wound around and across a valley, and which 
we had to cross eight times. At every crossing the 
banks had to be sloped ofif and the bed built up before 
the wagons could be drawn over. Watching all this 
has been most entertaining and the whole trip is mak- 
ing a man of the doctor. 

To-night we are in camp in the Judith Basin and 
by the Judith River — a beautiful stream, and by far 
the largest we have seen on the march. And just 
across the river from us is a stockade, very high and 
very large, with heavy board gate that was closed as 
we came past. We can see the roof of the cabin 
inside, and a stovepipe sticking up through it. Faye 
says that he has just heard that the place is a nest of 
horse thieves of the boldest and most daring type, and 
that one of them is coming to see him this evening! 
He was told all this by the Frenchman, Junot, who 
has a little trading store a mile or so from here. 

Faye and the doctor rode over there as soon as the 
tents had been pitched, to ascertain if the company 
from Missoula had passed. Our trail and the one 
from the Bitter Root valley fork there. The com- 



248 ARMY LETTERS F R O AI 

pany passed several days ago, so we will go on in the 
morning; otherwise we would have been obliged to 
wait for it. 

I had to stay here all alone as Faye would not 
consent to my going with him. He gave me one of 
his big pistols, and I had my own small one, and these 
I put on a table in the tent, after they had gone, and 
then fastened the tent flaps tight and sat down to 
await events. But the tent soon became stifling, and 
it occurred to me that it was foolish to shut myself up 
so I could not see whatever might come until it was 
right upon me, so putting my pistol in my pocket and 
hiding the other, I opened the tent and went out. 
The first thing I saw was a fishing pole with line and 
fly, and that I took, and the next was the first sergeant 
watching me. I knew then that Faye had told him 
to take care of me. 

I went over to tell him that I was going for a fish, 
and then on down to the beautiful river, whose waters 
are green and very much the color of the Niagara 
River. I cast the fly over on the water, and instantly 
a large fish came up, took the fly, and went down 
again so easily and gracefully that he scarcely made 
a ripple on the water imtil he felt the pull of the line. 
That was when I forgot everything connected with 
camp — Faye, horse thieves, and Indians! I had no 
reel, of course, and getting the big fish out of the 
water was a problem, for I was standing on a rather 
high and steep bank. It jumped and jerked in a way 
that made me afraid I might be pulled down instead 
of my pulling the fish up, so I began to draw him in, 
and then up, hand over hand, not daring to breathe 
while he was suspended in the air. It called for every 







43 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 251 

bit of my strength, as the shiny thing was so heavy. 
But I got him; and his lengtli was just twice the 
width of my handkerchief — a splendid salmon trout. 
I laid it back of a rock in the shade, and went on down 
the stream, casting my one fly, and very soon I caught 
another trout of precisely the same size as the first, 
and which I landed the same way, too. I put it by 
the rock with the other. 

I kept on down the river, whipping it with my 
lucky fly every few steps, but I caught no more fish, 
neither did I get a rise, but I did not mind that, for I 
had the two beauties, and I was having a grand time 
too. I had caught both large fish without assistance 
and with a common willow pole. All that serenity 
was upset, however, when I heard my name called 
with such a roar that I came near jumping over the 
bank to save myself from whatever was after me, but 
the "What are you doing so far from camp?" came 
just in time to stop me. 

It was Faye, of course, and he was cross because 
I had gone so far alone, and had, in a way, disre- 
garded his instructions — had done as I pleased after 
he had left me alone. I wanted to go to Junot's, 
therefore was not one bit sorry that I had frightened 
him, and said not a word to his sputtering about the 
danger from Indians and horse thieves as we started 
back to camp. After we had gone a little distance 
up I said, " I left something by that rock." I tried 
to lift the big fish to show him, but they were too 
heavy, and I had to hold up one at a time as I 
said, " This is Mr. Indian and this Mr. Horse Thief ! " 
Faye was almost speechless over my having caught 
two such large trout, and started to camp with them 



252 ARAIY LETTERS FROM 

at such a pace I Iiad to run, almost, to keep up. He 
thought of something of great importance to say to 
the first sergeant, simply because he wanted to show 
them to the company. Some beautiful trout have been 
brought in by the enlisted men who went up the river, 
and I am so glad, for now they will have such a nice 
supper. 

The horse thieves undoubtedly knew this country 
well, when they selected this valley for their hiding 
place. They have an abundance of delicious fish the 
year round at their very door, and there is any amount 
of game near, both furred and feathered, and splendid 
vegetables they can certainly raise, for they have just 
sent Faye a large grain sack overflowing with tender, 
sweet corn, new beets, turnips, cabbage, and potatoes. 
These will be a grand treat to us, as our own vegetables 
gave out several days ago. But just think of accept- 
ing these things from a band of desperadoes and 
horse thieves ! Their garden must be inside the im- 
mense stockade, for there is nothing of the kind to 
be seen outside. They probably keep themselves in 
readiness for a long siege by sheriff and posse that 
may come down upon them at any time without warn- 
ing. And all the time they know that if ever caught 
stealing horses, their trial will last just as long as it 
will take to drag them to a tree that has a good strong 
branch. 

Charlie says that he is a mason and reads every 
evening in a book that is of his own printing. It is 
really wonderful. Every evening after dinner he sits 
out in front of his tent with a large silk handkerchief 
over his head, and perhaps another with which to 
fight the ever-present mosquitoes, and reads until 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 253 

dark. He is the only literary person in the command 
and we are quite proud of him. He is a great com- 
fort to Faye and me, for his cooking is delicious. 
The doctor has a camp appetite now and is not as 
finicky as when we started on the trip. 

Fort Maginnis, Montana Territory, 
September, 1880. 

IT is almost one week since we got here, but I 
have not written before as no mail has been sent 
out. I hope that the letter left with Junot has been 
received, also the two or three notes that were 
given to horsemen we met on their way to Fort 
Benton. 

At first, Faye did not tell me all that he knew about 
those horse thieves in the Judith Basin, but it finally 
came out that the trader, Junot, had told him a most 
blood-curdling tale of events to come. He had de- 
clared most positively that the desperadoes were plan- 
ning to attack the command, the very next morning 
while crossing the Judith Mountains, with a hope, of 
course, of getting the animals. He also told Faye 
that one of them would be in camp that evening to 
ask permission to go with him to Maginnis. Faye 
said the whole story was absurd, particularly the at- 
tack, as those horse thieves would never dare attack 
government troops. Besides, he had over fifty good 
men with him, and probably there were only ten or 
twelve horse thieves. So not much attention was paid 
to what the old Frenchman had said. 

But after dinner, when we were sitting outside and 
Faye and the doctor were smoking, a man came 
around the corner of the tent with long, swinging 



254 



ARMY LETTERS EROM 



strides, and was in our midst before we had 
dreamed of anyone being near. He spoke to Faye 
courteously, and declining a chair, dropped down 
full length on the groimd, with elbows in the grass 
and chin on the palms of his hands. His feet 
were near the tent and his face out, which placed 
him in a fine position to observe everything in the 
camp without anyone seeing that he was doing so, 
especially as his eyes were screened by a soft, broad- 
brimmed hat. It was impossible to see their color, of 
course. 

He was young — not over twenty-eight or thirty — 
and handsome, with a face that was almost girlish in 
its fairness. His hair was neatly cut, and so was his 
light mustache, and his smooth face showed that he 
had recently shaved. He was tall and lithe, and from 
his chin to his toes was dressed in fine buckskin — 
shirt, trousers, leggings, and moccasins — and around 
his neck was tied a blue cotton handkerchief, new and 
clean. That the man could be a horse thie/, an out- 
law, seemed most incredible. 

He talked very well, too, of the country and the 
game, and we were enjoying the change in our usual 
after-dinner camp conversation, when suddenly up he 
jumped, and turning around looked straight at Faye, 
and then like a bomb came the request to be allowed to 
go with him to Fort Maginnis ! He raised the brim of 
his hat, and there seemed to be a look of defiance in his 
steel-blue eyes. But Faye had been expecting this, 
and knowing that he was more than a match for the 
villain, he got up from his camp stool leisurely, and 
with great composure told the man : " Certainly, I will 
be very glad to have some one along who knows the 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 255 

trail so well." To be told that he knew the trail must 
have been disconcerting to the man, but not one word 
did he say in reference to it. 

After he had gone, Faye went over to the company, 
where he remained some time, and I learned later that 
he had been giving the first sergeant careful instruc- 
tions for the next day. I could not sleep that night 
because of horrible dreams — dreams of long, yellow 
snakes with fiery eyes crawling through green grass. 
I have thought so many times since of how perfectly 
maddening it must have been to those horse thieves to 
have twenty-two nice fat mules and three horses 
brought almost within the shadow of their very own 
stockade, and yet have it so impossible to gather 
them in ! 

At the appointed time the buckskin-man appeared 
the following morning on a beautiful chestnut horse 
with fancy bridle and Mexican saddle, and with him 
came a friend, his " pal '' he told Faye, who was 
much older and was a sullen, villainous-looking man. 
Both were armed with rifles and pistols, but there was 
nothing remarkable in that ; in this country it is a 
necessity. We started off very much as usual, except 
that Faye kept rather close to the " pal," which left 
Bettie and me alone most of the time, just a little at 
one side. I noticed that directly back of the horse 
thieves walked a soldier, armed with rifle and pistol, 
and Faye told me that night that he was one of the 
best sharpshooters in the Army, and that he was back 
of those men with orders to shoot them down like dogs 
if they made one treacherous move. The buckskin 
man was one of the most graceful riders I ever saw, 
and evidently loved his fine mount, as I saw him stroke 



256 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

his neck several times — and the man himself was cer- 
tainly handsome. 

Faye had told me that I must not question any- 
thing he might tell me to do, so after we had crossed 
the valley and gone up the mountains a little distance 
he called to me in a voice unnecessarily loud, that I 
must be tired riding so far, and had better get in 
the ambulance for a while. I immediately dismounted, 
and giving the bridle rein to a soldier, I waited for 
the ambulance to come up. As I got in, I felt that 
perhaps I was doing the first act in an awful tragedy. 
The horsemen and wagons had stopped during the 
minute or two I was getting in, but I saw soldiers 
moving about, and just as soon as I was seated I 
looked out to see what was going on. 

A splendid old sergeant was going to the front with 
four soldiers, whom I knew were men to be trusted, 
each one with rifle, bayonet, and belt full of cartridges, 
and then I saw that some of the plans for that day's 
trip had not been told to me. The men were placed 
in front of everyone, four abreast, and Faye at 
once told the thieves that under no conditions 
must one ever get in front of the advance guard. 
How they must have hated it all — four drilled sol- 
diers in front of them and a sharpshooter back of 
them, and all the time treated by Faye as honored 
guests ! 

There were four men at the rear of the w^agons, and 
the posting of these rear and advance guards, and 
placing men on either side of the wagons, had been 
done without one order from Faye, so my dismounting 
must have been the signal for the sergeant to carry 
out the orders Faye had given him the night before. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 257 

Not by one turn of the head did those outlaws show 
that they noticed those changes. 

In that way we crossed the range. We met a dozen 
or more men of the very roughest type, each one heav- 
ily armed. They were in parties of two and three, 
and Faye thinks that a signal was passed between 
one of them and the " pal." But there was no attack 
as had been predicted ! What might have taken place, 
however, if Faye had not been prepared, no one can 
tell. Certainly part of Junot's story had been carried 
out — the horse thief came to the tent and came with 
us to Maginnis, and it was not because he wanted the 
protection of the troops. Faye insists that an attack 
was never thought of, but as he was responsible for 
government property, including the animals, he had 
to make preparation to protect them. Of course those 
men wanted only the animals. We passed many places 
on the divide that were ideal for an ambush — blufifs, 
huge boulders, and precipices — everything perfect for 
a successful hold up. 

The men came on to the post with us, and were in 
camp two nights with the soldiers. The second day 
from the Judith, we stopped for luncheon near a small 
stream where there were a great many choke-cherry 
bushes, and " Buckskin Joe "^ — that was his name — 

' About six years after this occurrence, there was a graphic ac- 
count in the Western papers of the horrible death of " Buckskin Joe," 
who was known as one of the most daring and slippery horse thieves 
in the Territory. After evading arrest many times, he was finally 
hunted down by a sheriff's posse, when his fiendish fighting excited 
the admiration of those who were killing him. A bullet broke one of 
his legs, and he went down, but he kept on shooting — and so fast 
that no one dared approach him. And when the forearm of his 
pistol hand was shattered, he grasped the pistol with the other hand 



25S ARMY LETTERS FROM 

brought large bunches of the cherries to me. His 
manner showed refinement, and I saw that his wonder- 
ful eyes could be tender as well as steely. Perhaps he 
had sisters at the old home, and perhaps, too, I was 
the first woman he had seen in months to remind him 
of them, I shall always believe that he is from good 
people some place East, that his " dare-devil " nature 
got him into some kind of trouble there, and that he 
came to this wild country to hide from justice. The 
very morning after we got here, not long after our 
breakfast, he appeared at our tent with a fine young 
deer slung across the back of his horse, which he pre- 
sented to us. He had just killed it. It was most ac- 
ceptable, as there was no fresh meat in camp. He and 
his " pal " stayed around that day and night, and then 
quietly disappeared. Not one of the soldiers, even, 
saw them go. 

It was pleasant to meet our old friends here. Colo- 
nel Palmer is in command, and I was particularly glad 
to see them. After Mrs. Palmer had embraced me she 
held me ofif a little and said : " What have you been 
doing to your face ? my, but you are ugly ! " The 
skin on the blistered side has peeled ofif in little strips, 
leaving the new skin very white in between the parched 
brown of the old, so I expect I do resemble a zebra 
or an Indian with his war paint on. The post, which 
is only a camp as yet, is located at the upper end of a 
beautiful valley, and back of us is a canon and moun- 

and continued to shoot, even when he could not sit up, but had to 
hold himself up by the elbow of his broken arm. He was finally 
killed, fairly riddled with bullets. He knew, of course, all the time 
what his fate would be if taken alive, and he chose the cold lead 
instead of the end of a rope. 



t, '' 




AN OFFICER'S WIFE 261 

tains are on both sides. Far down the valley is a large 
Indian village, and we can distinctly see the tepees, 
and often hear the " tom-toms " when the Indians 
dance. There are other Indian camps near, and it is 
not safe to go far from the tents without an escort. 
It seems to be a wonderful country for game — deer, 
grouse, and prairie chicken. Twice we have seen deer 
come down from the mountains and drink from the 
stream just below the post. Bettie and I have scared 
up chicken every time we have taken little runs around 
the camp, and Faye has shot large bags of them. 
They are not as great a treat to us as to our friends, 
for we had so many on the way over. 

We have two wall tents, one for sitting room and 
one for bedroom, and in front a " fly " has been 
stretched. Our folding camp furniture makes the tents 
very comfortable. Back of these is the mess, or 
dining tent, and back of that is the cook tent. Charlie 
has a small range now, which keeps him squeaking 
or half singing all the time. One morning, before we 
got this stove from the quartermaster, breakfast was 
late, very late. The wind was blowing a gale, and 
after waiting and waiting, we concluded that Charlie 
must be having trouble with the little sheet-iron camp 
stove. So Faye went back to see what was the mat- 
ter. He returned laughing, and said he had found a 
most unhappy Chinaman ; that Charlie was holding the 
stove down with a piece of wood with one hand, and 
with the other was trying to keep the breakfast on 
the stove. 

You know the stovepipe goes up through a piece of 
tin fastened in the roof of the tent, which is slanting, 
and when the canvas catches the wind and flops up 
18 



262 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

and down and every other way, the stovepipe naturally 
has to go with it. The wind was just right that morn- 
ing to flop everything — canvas, pipe, stove, and break- 
fast, too — particularly the delicate Saratoga chips 
Charlie had prepared for us, and which, Faye said, 
were being blown about like yellow rose leaves. The 
poor little heathen was distracted, but when he saw 
Faye he instantly became a general and said at once, 
" You hole-ee him — me takee bleckfus." So Faye hav- 
ing a desire for breakfast, held down the stove while 
Charlie got things together. The Saratoga chips were 
delicate and crisp and looked nice, too, but neither 
the doctor nor I asked Faye if they were some of the 
" rose leaves " or just plain potatoes from a dish ! 

Charlie is splendid and most resourceful. Very 
near our tent is a small stream of cold, clear water, 
and on one side of this he has made a little cave of 
stones through which the water runs, and in this he 
keeps the butter, milk, and desserts that require a cool 
place. He is pottering around about something all 
the time. There is just one poor cow in the whole 
camp, so we cannot get much milk — only one pint each 
day — but we consider ourselves very fortunate in get- 
ting any at all. I brought over fourteen dozen eggs, 
packed in boxes with salt. We are to start back the 
first of November, so after we got here I worked out 
a little problem in mathematics, and found that the 
eggs would last by using only two each day. But 
Charlie does better than this ; he will manage to get 
along without eggs for a day or two, and will then 
surprise us with a fine omelet or custard. But he 
keeps an exact account and never exceeds his allow- 
ance. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 263 

The doctor is still with us, and shows no inclination 
to join the officers' mess that has just been started. 
He seems to think that he is one of the family, and 
would be greatly surprised, and hurt probably, if he 
should discover that we would rather be alone. 



Fort Maginnis, Montana Territory, 
September, 1880. 

THERE is a large village of Cree Indians in the 
valley below, and for several days they were a 
great nuisance in the garrison. One bright morning it 
was discovered that a long line of them had left their 
tepees and were coming in this direction. They were 
riding single file, of course, and were chanting and 
beating " tom-toms " in a way to make one's blood 
feel frozen. I was out on one of the little hills at the 
time, riding Bettie, and happened to be about the first 
to see them. I started for the post at once at a fast 
gait and told Faye and Colonel Palmer about them, 
but as soon as it was seen that they were actually com- 
ing to the post, I rode out again about as fast as I 
had come in, and went to a bit of high ground where 
I could command a view of the camp, and at the same 
time be screened by bushes and rocks. And there I 
remained until those savages were well on their way 
back to their own village. 

Then I went in, and was laughed at by everyone, 
and assured by some that I had missed a wonderful 
sight. The Crees are Canadian Indians and are here 
for a hunt, by permission of both governments. They 
and the Sioux are very hostile to each other ; therefore 
when four or five Sioux swooped down upon them a 
few days ago and drove off twenty of their ponies, 



264 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

the Crces were frantic. It was an insult not to be put 
up with, so some of their best young warriors were 
sent after them. They recaptured the ponies and killed 
one Sioux. 

Now an Indian is shrewd and wily ! The Sioux had 
been a thief, therefore the Crees cut ofif his right hand, 
fastened it to a long pole with the fingers pointing up, 
and with much fuss and feathers — particularly feath- 
ers — brought it to the " White Chief," to show him 
that the good, brave Crees had killed one of the white 
man's enemies ! The leading Indian carried the pole 
with the hand, and almost everyone of those that fol- 
lowed carried something also — pieces of flags, or old 
tin pans or buckets, upon which they beat with sticks, 
making horrible noises. Each Indian was chanting in 
a sing-song, mournful way. They were dressed most 
fancifully ; some with red coats, probably discarded by 
the Canadian police, and Faye said that almost every- 
one had on quantities of beads and feathers. 

Bringing the hand of a dead Sioux was only an 
Indian's way of begging for something to eat, and 
this Colonel Palmer understood, so great tin cups of 
hot coffee and boxes of hard-tack were served to 
them. Then they danced and danced, and to me it 
looked as though they intended to dance the rest of 
their lives right on that one spot. But when they saw 
that any amount of furious dancing would not boil 
more coffee, they stopped, and finally started back to 
their village. 

Faye tells me that as he was going to his tent from 
the dancing, he noticed an Indian who seemed to be 
unusually well clad, his moccasins and leggings were 
embroidered with beads and he was wrapped in a 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 265 

bright-red blanket, head as well as body. As he 
passed him a voice said in the purest English, '* Lieu- 
tenant, can you give me a sear spring for my rifle ? " 
The only human being near was that Indian, wrapped 
closely in a blanket, with only his eyes showing, pre- 
cisely as one would expect to see a hostile dressed. 
Faye said that it gave him the queerest kind of a 
sensation, as though the voice had come from another 
world. He asked the Indian where he had learned 
such good English and technical knowledge of guns, 
and he said at the Carlisle school. He said also that 
he was a Piegan and on a visit to some Cree friends. 
This was one of the many proofs that we have had, 
that no matter how good an education the Indian may 
receive, he will return to his blanket and out-of-the- 
pot way of living just as soon as he returns to his 
people. It would be foolish to expect anything dif- 
ferent. 

But those Cree Indians ! The coffee had been good, 
very good, and they wanted more, so the very next 
morning they brought to Colonel Palmer an old dried 
scalp lock, scalp of " White Chief's enemy," with the 
same ceremony as they had brought the hand. Then 
they sat around his tent and watched him, giving 
little grunts now and then until in desperation he 
ordered coffee for them, after which they danced. 
The men gave them bits of tobacco too. Well, they 
kept this performance up three or four days, each day 
bringing something to Colonel Palmer to make him 
think they had killed a Sioux. This became very tire- 
some ; besides, the soldiers were being robbed of coffee, 
so Colonel Palmer shut himself in his tent and refused 
to see them one day, and an orderly told them to go 



266 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

away and make no noise. They finally left the post, 
looking very mournful, the men said. I told Colonel 
Palmer that he might better have gone out on the hills 
as I did ; that it was ever so much nicer than being 
shut up in a tent. 

Bettie is learning to rear higher and higher, and I 
ride Pete now. The last time I rode her she went up 
so straight that I slipped back in my saddle, and some 
of the enlisted men ran out to my assistance. I let 
her have her own way and came back to the tent, and 
jumping down, declared to Faye that I would never 
ride her again. She is very cute in her badness, and 
having once discovered that I didn't like a rearing 
horse, she has proceeded to rear whenever she wanted 
her own way. I have enjoyed riding her because she 
is so graceful and dainty, but I have been told so 
many times that the horse was dangerous and would 
throw me, that perhaps I have become a little nervous 
about her. 

A detail of soldiers goes up in the mountains twice 
every day for poles with which to make the roofs of 
the log quarters. They go along a trail on the other 
side of the creek, and on this side is a narrow deer 
path that runs around the rocky side of a small moun- 
tain. Ever since I have been here I have wanted to 
go back of the mountain by that path. So, when I 
hai)pened to be out on Pete yesterday afternoon at the 
time the men started, I at once decided to take advan- 
tage of their protection and ride around the little 
mountain. 

About half a mile up, there were quantities of bushes 
eight and ten feet high down in the creek bed, and the 
narrow trail that Pete was on was about on a level 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 267 

with the tops of the bushes. At my left the hill was 
very steep and covered with stones. I was having a 
delightful time, feeling perfectly safe with so many 
soldiers within call. But suddenly things changed. 
Down in those bushes there was a loud crashing and 
snapping, and then straight up into the air jumped a 
splendid deer ! His head and most of his neck were 
above the bushes, and for just one instant he looked 
at us with big inquisitive eyes before he went down 
again. 

When the deer went up Pete went up, too, on the 
steep hill, and as I was on his back I had to go with 
him. The horse was badly frightened, snorted, and 
raised his tail high, and when I tried to get him down 
on the trail, the higher up he went on the rolling stones. 
I could almost touch the side of the mountain with 
my whip in places, it was so steep. It was a most 
dangerous position to be in, and just what elevation I 
might have been carried to eventually I do not know, 
had not the deer stopped his crashing through the 
bushes and bounded up on the opposite bank, directly in 
front of the first team of mules, and then on he streaked 
it across a plateau and far up a mountain side, his 
short white tail showing distinctly as he ran. With 
the deer, Pete seemed to think that the Evil One had 
gone, too, and consented to return to the trail and 
to cross the stream over to the wagons. 

The corporal had stopped the wagons until he saw 
that I was safely down, and I asked him why he had 
not killed the deer — we are always in need of game — 
and he said that he had not seen him until he was in 
front of the mules, and that it was impossible then, 
as the deer did not wait for them to get the rifles out 



268 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

of their cases on the bottom of the wagons. That 
evening at the whist table I told Colonel Palmer about 
the deer and Pete, and saw at once that I had prob- 
ably gotten the poor corporal in trouble. Colonel 
Palmer was very angry that the men should even think 
of going several miles from the post, in an Indian 
country, with their rifles cased and strapped so they 
would have been practically useless in case of an 
attack. 

Faye says that the men were not thinking of In- 
dians, but simply trying to keep their rifles from being 
marred and scratched, for if they did get so they 
would be " jumped " at the first inspection. Colonel 
Palmer gave most positive orders for the soldiers to 
hold their rifles in their, hands on their way to and 
from the mountains, which perhaps is for the best. 
But I am afraid they will blame me for such orders 
having- been issued. 



Fort Maginnis, Montana Territory, 
October, iS8o. 

IT is not surprising that politicians got a military 
post established here, so this wonderful country 
could be opened and settled, for the country itself is not 
only beautiful, but it has an amount of game every 
place that is almost beyond belief. Deer are frequently 
seen to come down from the mountains to the creek for 
water, and prairie chicken would come to our very 
tents, I fancy, if left to follow their inclinations. 

Faye is officer of the day every third day, but the 
other two days there is not much for him to do, as the 
company is now working on the new quarters under 
the supervision of the quartermaster. So we often go 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 269 

off on little hunts, usually for chicken, but sometimes 
we go up on one of the mountains, where there are 
quantities of ruffed grouse. These are delicious, with 
meat as tender and white as young chicken, and they 
are so pretty, too, when they spread the ruffs around 
their necks and make fans of their short tail feathers. 

Yesterday we went out for birds for both tables — 
the officers' mess and our own. The other officers are 
not hunters, and Faye is the possessor of the only shot- 
gun in the garrison, therefore it has been a great 
pleasure to us to bring in game for all. Faye rides 
Bettie now altogether, so I was on Pete yesterday. 
We had quite a number of chickens, but thought 
we would like to get two or three more ; therefore, 
when we saw a small covey fly over by some bushes, 
and that one bird went beyond and dropped on the 
other side, Faye told me to go on a little, and watch 
that bird if it rose again when he shot at the others. 
It is our habit usually for me to hold Faye's horse 
when he dismounts to hunt, but that time he was some 
distance away, and had slipped his hand through the 
bridle rein and was leading Bettie that way. Both 
horses are perfectly broken to firearms, and do not in 
the least mind a gun. I have often seen Bettie prick 
up her ears and watch the smoke come from the barrel 
with the greatest interest. 

Everything went on very well until I got where I 
might expect to see the chicken, and then I presume 
I gave more thought to the bird than to the ground 
the horse was on. At all events, it suddenly occurred 
to me that the grass about us was very tall, and look- 
ing down closely I discovered that Pete was in an 
alkali bog and slowly going down, I at once tried to 



270 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

g-et him back to the ground we had just left, but in his 
frantic efforts to get his feet out of the sticky mud, he 
got farther to one side and slipped down into an alkali 
hole of nasty black water and slime. That I knew to be 
exceedingly dangerous, and I urged the horse by voice 
and whip to get him out before he sank down too 
deep, but with all his efforts he could do nothing, 
and was going down very fast and groaning in his 
terror. 

Seeing that I must have assistance without delay, I 
called to Faye to come at once, and sat very still 
until he got to us, fearing that if I changed my posi- 
tion the horse might fall over. Faye came running, 
and finding a tuft of grass and solid ground to stand 
upon, pulled Pete by the bridle and encouraged him 
until the poor beast finally struggled out, his legs and 
stomach covered with the black slime up to the flaps 
of my saddle, so one can see what danger we were in. 
There was no way of relieving the horse of my weight, 
as it was impossible for me to jump and not get stuck 
in the mud myself. This is the only alkali hole we 
have discovered here. It is screened by bunches of tall 
grass, and I expect that many a time I have ridden 
within a few feet of it when alone, and if my horse 
had happened to slip down on any one of these times, 
we probably would have been sucked from the face 
of the earth, and not one person to come to our assist- 
ance or to know what had happened to us. 

When Faye heard my call of distress, he threw the 
bridle back on Bettie, and slipping the shotgun through 
the sling on the saddle, hurried over to me, not giv- 
ing Bettie much thought. The horse has always 
shown the greatest disinclination to leaving Pete, but 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



271 



having her own free will that time, she did the unex- 
pected and trotted to a herd of mules not far off, and 
as she went down a little hill the precious shotgun 
slipped out of the sling to the ground, and the stock 
broke ! The gun is perfectly useless, and the loss of 
it is great to us and our friends. To be in this splen- 
did game country without a shotgun is deplorable ; 
still, to have been buried in a hole of black water and 
muck would have been worse. 

Later. Such an awful wind storm burst upon us 




'Pete was in an alkali bog and slowly going down." 



while I was writing two days ago, I was obliged to 
stop. The day was cold and our tents were closed 
tight to keep the heat in, so we knew nothing of the 
storm until it struck us, and with such fierceness it 
seemed as if the tents must go down. Instantly there 
was commotion in camp — some of the men tighten- 
^^S S^y ropes, and others running after blankets and 
pieces of clothing that had been out for an airing, but 



272 ARMY LETTERS EROM 

every man laughed and made fun of whatever he was 
doing. Soldiers are always so cheerful under such 
difficulties, and I dearly love to hear them laugh, and 
yell, too, over in their tents. 

The snow fell thick and fast, and the wind came 
through the canon back of us with the velocity of a 
hurricane. As night came on it seemed to increase, 
and the tents began to show the strain and one or two 
had gone down, so the officers' families were moved 
into the unfinished log quarters for the night. Colonel 
Palmer sent for me to go over also, and IMajor Ragley 
came twice for me, saying our tents would certainly 
fall, and that it would be better to go then, than 
in the middle of the night. But I had more faith in 
those tents, for they were new and pitched remark- 
ably well. Soon after we got here, long poles had 
been put up on stakes all along each side of, and close 
to, the tents, and to these the guy ropes of both tents 
and " fly " covers had been securely fastened, all of 
which had prevented much flopping of canvas. Dirt 
had been banked all around the base of the tents, so 
with a very little fire we could be warm and fairly 
comfortable. 

The wind seemed to get worse every minute, and 
once in a while there would be a loud " boom " when 
a big Sibley tent would be ripped open, and then would 
come yells from the men as they scrambled after their 
belongings. After it became dark it seemed dismal, 
but Eaye would not go in a building, and I would 
not leave him alone to hold the stove down. This 
was our only care and annoyance. It was intensely 
cold, and in order to have a fire we were compelled 
to hold the pipe down on the little conical camp stove, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 273 

for with the flopping of the tent and fly, the pipe was 
in constant motion. Faye would hold it for a while, 
then I would relieve him, and so on. The holding- 
down business was very funny for an hour or two, 
but in time it became monotonous. 

We got through the night very well, but did not 
sleep much. The tearing and snapping of tents, and 
the shouting of the men when a tent would fall upon 
them was heard frequently, and when we looked out 
in the morning the camp had the appearance of having 
been struck by a cyclone ! Two thirds of the tents 
were flat on the ground, others were badly torn, and 
the unfinished log quarters only added to the desola- 
tion. Snow was over everything ten or twelve inches 
deep. But the wind had gone down and the atmos- 
phere was wonderfully clear, and sparkling, and full 
of frost. 

Dinner the evening before had not been a success, 
so we were very prompt to the nice hot breakfast 
Charlie gave us. That Chinaman has certainly been 
a great comfort on this trip. The doctor came over 
looking cross and sick. He said at once that we had 
been wise in remaining in our comfortable tents, that 
everybody in the log houses was sneezing and com- 
plaining of stiff joints. The logs have not been 
chinked yet, and, as might have been expected, 
wind and snow swept through them. The stoves have 
not been set up, so even one fire was impossible. Two 
or three of their tents did go down, however, the 
doctor's included, and perhaps they were safer in a 
breezy house, after all. 

The mail has been held back, and will start with us. 
The time of going was determined at Department 



274 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



Headquarters, and we will have to leave here on the 
first — day after to-morrow — if such a thing is possible. 
We return by the way of Benton. It is perfectly ex- 
asperating to see prairie chicken all around us on the 
snow. Early this morning there was a large covey 
up in a tree just across the creek from our tent, look- 
ing over at us in a most insolent manner. They acted 
as though they knew there was not a shotgun within 
a hundred miles of them. They were perfectly safe, 
for everyone was too nearly frozen to trouble them 
with a rifle. 

Camping on the snow will not be pleasant, and we 
regret very much that the storm came just at this 
time. Charlie is busy cooking all sorts of things for 
the trip, so he will not have much to do on the little 
camp stove. He is a treasure, but says that he wishes 
we could stay here ; that he does not want to return to 
Fort Shaw. This puzzles me very much, as there are 
so many Chinamen at Shaw and not one here. The 
doctor will not go back with us, as he has received 
orders to remain at this post during the winter. 



Fort Suaw, Montana Territory, 
November, 1880. 

THE past few days have been busy ones. The 
house has received much needed attention and 
camp things have been looked over and put away, 
ready for the next move. The trip back was a disap- 
pointment to me and not at all pleasant. The wagons 
were very lightly loaded, so the men rode in them all 
the way, and we came about forty miles each day, the 
mules keeping up a steady slow trot. Of course I 
could not ride those distances at that gait, therefore 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 275 

I was compelled to come in the old, jerky ambu- 
lance. 

The snow was still deep when we left Maginnis, and 
at the first camp snow had to be swept from the ground 
where our tent was pitched. But after that the 
weather was warm and sunny. We saw the greatest 
number of feathered game — enormous flocks of geese, 
brant, and ducks. Our camp one night was near a 
small lake just the other side of Benton, and at dusk 
hundreds of geese came and lit on the water, until 
it looked like one big mass of live, restless things, and 
the noise was deafening. Some of the men shot at 
them with rifles, but the geese did not seem to mind 
much. 

Charlie told me at Maginnis that he did not want to 
return to Shaw, and I wondered at that so many times. 
I went in the kitchen two miserable mornings back 
and found him sitting down looking unhappy and dis- 
consolate. I do not remember to have ever seen a 
Chinaman sitting down that way before, and was afraid 
he might be sick, but he said at once and without pre- 
amble, " Me go 'way! " He saw my look of surprise 
and said again, " Me go 'way — Missee Bulk's Chinee- 
man tellee me go 'way." I said, " But, Charlie, Lee 
has no right to tell you to go ; I want you to stay." 
He hesitated one second, then said in the most mourn- 
ful of voices, " Yes, me know, me feel vellee blad, but 
Lee, he tellee me go — he no likee mason-man." No 
amount of persuasion could induce him to stay, and 
that evening after dinner he packed his bedding on his 
back and went away — to the Crossing, I presume. 
Charlie called himself a mason, and has a book that 
he made himself which he said was a " mason-man 



276 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

blook," but I learned yesterday that he is a " high- 
binder," no mason at all, and for that reason the 
Chinamen in the garrison would not permit him to re- 
main here. They were afraid of him, yet he seemed so 
very trustworthy in every way. But a highbinder in 
one's own house ! 

There has been another departure from the family — 
Bettie has been sold ! Lieutenant Warren wanted her 
to match a horse he had recently bought. The two 
make a beautiful little team, and Bettie is already a 
great pet, and I am glad of that, of course, but I do not 
see the necessity of Lieutenant Warren's giving her 
sugar right in front of our windows ! His quarters 
are near ours. He says that Bettie made no objections 
to the harness, but drove right ofT with her mate. 

There was a distressing occurrence in the garrison 
yesterday that I cannot forget. At all army posts 
the prisoners do the rough work, such as bringing the 
wood and water, keeping the yards tidy, bringing the 
ice, and so on. Yesterday morning one of the general 
prisoners here escaped from the sentry guarding him. 
The long-roll was beaten, and as this always means 
that something is wrong and calls out all the troops, of- 
ficers and men, I ran out on the porch to see what was 
the matter, fearing there might be a fire some place. 
It seemed a long time before the companies got in line, 
and then I noticed that instead of fire buckets they 
were carrying rifles. Directly every company started 
off on double time and disappeared in between two 
sets of barracks at one corner of the parade ground. 
Then everything was unusually quiet ; not a human 
being to be seen except the sentry at the guardhouse, 
who was walking post. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 277 

It was pleasant, so I sat- down, still feeling curious 
about the trouble that was serious enough to call out 
all the troops. It was not so very long before Lieu- 
tenant Todd, who was officer of the day, came from 
the direction the companies had gone, pistol in hand, 
and in front of him was a man with ball and chain. 
That means that his feet were fastened together by a 
large chain, just long enough to permit him to take 
short steps, and to that short chain was riveted a 
long one, at the end of which was a heavy iron 
ball hanging below his belt. When we see a prisoner 
carrying a ball and chain we know that he is a de- 
serter, or that he has done something very bad, which 
will probably send him to the penitentiary, for these 
balls are never put on a prisoner who has only a short 
time in the guardhouse. 

The prisoner yesterday — who seemed to be a young 
man — walked slowly to the guardhouse, the officer of 
the day following closely. Going up the steps and 
on in the room to a cot, he unfastened the ball from 
his belt and let it thunder down on the floor, and 
then throwing himself down on the cot, buried his face 
in the blankets, an awful picture of woe and despair. 
On the walk by the door, and looking at him with 
contempt, stood a splendid specimen of manhood — 
erect, broad-chested, with clear, honest eyes and a 
weather-beaten face — a typical soldier of the United 
States Army, and such as he, the prisoner inside might 
have become in time. Our house is separated from the 
guardhouse by a little park only, and I could plainly 
see the whole thing — the strong man and the weakling. 

In the meantime, bugles had called the men back to 
quarters, and very soon I learned all about the 
19 



278 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

wretched affair. The misguided yovmg man had de- 
serted once before, was found guilty by a general 
court-martial, and sentenced to the penitentiary at 
Leavenworth for the regulation time for such an 
offense, and to-morrow morning he was to have 
started for the prison. Now he has to stand a second 
court-martial, and serve a double sentence for deser- 
tion! 

He was so silly about it too. The prisoners were at 
the large ice house down by the river, getting ice out 
for the daily delivery. There were sentinels over 
them, of course, but in some way that man managed 
to sneak over the ice through the long building to an 
open door, through which he dropped down to the 
ground, and then he ran. He was missed almost 
instantly and the alarm given, but the companies were 
sent to the lowland along the river, where there are 
bushes, for there seemed to be no other place where 
he could possibly secrete himself. 

The officer of the day is responsible, in a way, for 
the prisoners, so of course Lieutenant Todd went to 
the ice house to find out the cause of the trouble, and on 
his way back he accidentally passed an old barrel- 
shaped water wagon. Not a sound was heard, but 
something told him to look inside. He had to climb 
up on a wheel in order to get high enough to look 
through the little square opening at the top, but he is 
a tall man and could just see in, and peering down 
he saw the wretched prisoner huddled at one end, 
looking more like an animal than a human being. He 
ordered him to come out, and marched him to the 
guardhouse. 

It was a strange coincidence, but the officer of the 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 279 

day happened to have been promoted from the ranks, 
had served his three years as an enlisted man, and 
then passed a stiff examination for a commission. 
One could see by his walk that he had no sympathy 
for the mother's baby. He knew from experience that 
a soldier's life is not hard unless the soldier himself 
makes it so. The service and discipline develop all the 
good qualities of the man, give him an assurance and 
manly courage he might never possess otherwise, and 
best of all, he learns to respect law and order. 

The Army is not a rough place, and neither are the 
men starved or abused, as many mothers seem to think. 
Often the company commanders receive the most piti- 
ful letters from mothers of enlisted men, beseeching 
them to send their boys back to them, that they are 
being treated like dogs, dying of starvation, and so 
on. As though these company commanders did not 
know all about those boys and the life they had to live. 

It is such a pity that these mothers cannot be made 
to realize that army discipline, regular hours, and plain 
army food is just what those " boys " need to make 
men of them. Judging by several letters I have read, 
sent to officers by mothers of soldiers, I am inclined 
to believe that weak mothers in many cases are respon- 
sible for the desertion of their weak sons. They sap 
all manhood from them by " coddling " as they grow 
up, and send them out in the world wholly unequal to 
a vigorous life — a life without pie and cake at every 
meal. Well ! I had no intention of moralizing this 
way, but I have written only the plain truth. 



28o ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
September, 1881. 

THERE has been quite a little flutter of excite- 
ment in the garrison during the past week, 
brought about by a short visit from the Marquis of 
Lome and his suite. As governor general of Canada, 
he had been inspecting his own military posts, and then 
came on down across the line to Shaw, 01 route to 
Dillon, where he will take the cars for the East. 
Colonel Knight is in command, so it fell upon him 
to see that Lord Lome was properly provided for, 
which he did by giving up absolutely for his use his 
own elegantly furnished quarters. Lord Lome took 
possession at once and quietly dined there that even- 
ing with one or two of his staff, and Colonel Knight 
as his guest. 

The members of the suite were entertained by dif- 
ferent officers of the garrison, and Captain Percival of 
the Second Life Guards was our guest. They were 
escorted across the line to this post by a company of 
Canadian mounted police, and a brave appearance 
those redcoats made as they rode on the parade 
ground and formed two lines through which the gov- 
ernor general and his staff' rode, with the booming of 
cannon. Colonel Knight went out to meet them, es- 
corted by our mounted infantry in command of Lieu- 
tenant Todd. 

The horses of the mounted police were very small, 
and inferior in every way to the animals one would 
expect the Canadian government to provide, and it 
did look very funny to see the gorgeously dressed 
police with their jaunty, side-tilted caps riding such 
wretched little beasts ! 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 281 

Our officers were on the parade to receive the gov- 
ernor general, and the regimental band was there 
also, playing all sorts of things. Presently, without 
stop, and as though it was the continuation of a 
melody, the first notes of " God Save the Queen " 
were heard. Instantly the head of every Englishman 
and Canadian was uncovered — quietly, and without 
ostentation or slightest break in hand-shaking and 
talking. It was like a military movement by bugle 
call ! Some of us who were looking on through filmy 
curtains thought it a beautiful manifestation of lov- 
ing loyalty. They were at a military post of another 
nation, in the midst of being introduced to its officers, 
yet not one failed to remember and to remind, that he 
was an Englishman ever ! 

Mrs. Gordon saved me the worry of preparing an 
elaborate dinner at this far-away place, by inviting us 
and our guest to dine with her and her guests. I am 
inclined to think that this may have been a shrewd 
move on the part of the dear friend, so she could have 
Hang to assist her own cook at her dinner. It was a 
fine arrangement, at all events, and pleased me most 
of all. I made the salad and arranged the table for 
her. Judging from what I saw and heard, Hang was 
having a glorious time. He had evidently frightened 
the old colored cook into complete idiocy, and was or- 
dering her about in a way that only a Chinaman 
knows. 

The dinner was long, but delicious and enjoyable in 
every way. Lord Bagot, the Rev. Dr. MacGregor, 
Captain Chater, and others of the governor general's 
staff were there — sixteen of us in all. Captain Percival 
sat at my right, of course, and the amount he ate was 



282 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

simply appalling! And the appetites of Lord Bagot 
and the others were equally fine. Course after course 
disappeared from their plates — not a scrap left on 
them — until one wondered how it was managed. Soon 
after dinner everyone went to Colonel Knight's quar- 
ters, where Lord Lome was holding a little reception. 
He is a charming man, very simple in his manner, and 
one could hardly believe that he is the son-in-law of a 
great queen and heir to a splendid dukedom. 

He had announced that he would start at ten o'clock 
the next morning, so I ordered breakfast at nine. A 
mounted escort from the post was to go with him 
to Dillon in command of Faye. It has always seemed 
so absurd and really unkind for Americans to put 
aside our own ways and customs when entertaining 
foreigners, and bore them with wretched representa- 
tions of things of their own country, thereby prevent- 
ing them from seeing life as it is here. So I decided 
to give our English captain an out and out American 
breakfast — not long, or elaborate, but dainty and 
nicely served. And L invited Miss Mills to meet him, 
to give it a little life. 

Well, nine o'clock came, so did Miss Mills, so did 
half after nine come, and then, finally ten o'clock, but 
Captain Percival did not come ! I was becoming very 
cross — for half an hour before I had sent Hang up 
to call Jiim, knowing that he and Faye also, were 
obliged to be ready to start at ten o'clock. I was 
worried, too, fearing that Faye would have to go 
without any breakfast at all. Of course the nice little 
breakfast was ruined ! Soon after ten, however, our 
guest came down and apologized very nicely — said 
that the bed was so very delightful he simply could 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 283 

not leave it. Right there I made a mental resolution 
to the effect that if ever a big Englishman should 
come to my house to remain overnight, I would have 
just one hour of delight taken from that bed ! 

To my great amusement, also pleasure, Captain Per- 
cival ate heartily of everything, and kept on eating, 
and with such apparent relish I began to think that 
possibly it might be another case of " delight," and 
finally to wonder if Hang had anything in reserve. 
Once he said, " What excellent cooks you have here ! " 
This made Miss Mills smile, for she knew that Hang 
had been loaned out the evening before. Faye soon 
left us to attend to matters in connection with the 
trip, but the three of us were having a very merry 
time — for Captain Percival was a most charming man 
— when in the room came Captain" Chater, his face 
as black as the proverbial thundercloud, and after 
speaking to me, looked straight and reprovingly at 
Captain Percival and said, " You are keeping his 
excellency waiting ! " That was like a bomb to all, 
and in two seconds the English captains had shaken 
hands and were gone. 

The mounted police are still in the post, and I sus- 
pect that this is because their commander is having 
such a pleasant time driving and dining with his host- 
ess, who is one of our most lovely and fascinating 
women. I received a note from Faye this morning 
from Helena. He says that so far the trip has been 
delightful, and that in every way and by all he is 
being treated as an honored guest. Lord Lome de- 
clined a large reception in Helena, because the United 
States is in mourning for its murdered President. 
What an exquisite rebuke to some of our ignorant 



284 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

Americans ! Faye writes that Lord Lome and mem- 
bers of his staff are constantly speaking in great praise 
of the officers' wives at Shaw, and have asked if the 
ladies throughout the Army are as charming and cul- 
tured as those here. 

Our young horses are really very handsome now, 
and their red coats are shining from good grooming 
and feeding. They are large, and perfectly matched 
in size, color, and gait, as they should be, since they 
are half brothers. I am learning to drive now, a 
single horse, and find it very interesting — but not one 
half as delightful as riding — I miss a saddle horse 
dreadfully. Now and then I ride George — my own 
horse — but he always reminds me that his proper place 
is in the harness, by making his gait just as rough as 
possible. 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
December, 1881. 

YOU will be greatly surprised to hear that Faye 
has gone to Washington ! His father is very ill 
— so dangerously so that a thirty-days' leave was tele- 
graphed Faye from Department Headquarters, with- 
out his having applied for it so as to enable him to get 
to Admiral Rae without delay. Some one in Wash- 
ington must have asked for the leave. It takes so 
long for letters to reach us from the East that one 
never knows what may be taking place there. Faye 
started on the next stage to Helena and at Dillon will 
take the cars for Washington. 

Faye went away the night before the entertain- 
ment, which made it impossible for me to be in the 
pantomime " Villikens and Dinah," so little Miss 
Gordon took my place and acted remarkably well, not- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 285 

withstanding she had rehearsed only twice. The very 
stage that carried Faye from the post, brought to 
us Mr. Hughes of Benton for a few days. But this 
turned out very nicely, for Colonel and Mrs. Mills, 
who know him well, were delighted to have him go 
to them, and there he is now. The next day I in- 
vited Miss Mills and Mr. Hughes to dine with me in- 
formally, and while I was in the dining room attend- 
ing to the few pieces of extra china and silver that 
would be required for dinner (a Chinaman has no 
idea of the fitness of things), Volmer, our striker, 
came in and said to me that he would like to take the 
horses and the single buggy out for an hour or so, as 
he wanted to show them to a friend. 

I saw at once that he and I were to have our usual 
skirmish. There is one, always, whenever Faye is 
away any length of time. The man has a fright- 
ful temper, and a year ago shot and killed a deserter. 
He was acquitted by military court, and later by civil 
court, both courts deciding that the shooting was acci- 
dental. But the deserter was a catholic and Volmer 
is a quaker, so the feeling in the company was so hos- 
tile toward him that for several nights he was put in 
the guardhouse for protection. Then Faye took him as 
striker, and has befriended him in many ways. But 
those colts he could not drive. So I told him that the 
horses could not go out during the lieutenant's absence, 
unless I went with them. He became angry at once, 
and said that it was the first team he had ever taken 
care of that he was not allowed to drive as often as he 
pleased. A big story, of course, but I said to him 
quietly, " You heard what I said, Volmer, and further 
discussion will be quite useless. You were never per- 



286 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

mitted to take the colts out when Lieutenant Rae was 
here, and now that he is away, you certainly cannot do 
so." And I turned back to my spoons and forks. 

Volmer went out of the room, but I had an uncom- 
fortable feeling that matters were not settled. In a 
short time I became conscious of loud talking in the 
kitchen, and could distinctly hear Volmer using most 
abusive language about Faye and me. That was 
outrageous and not to be tolerated a second, and with- 
out stopping to reason that it would be better not to 
hear, and let the man talk his anger off, out to the 
kitchen I went. I found Volmer perched upon one 
end of a large wood box that stands close to a door 
that leads out to a shed. I said : " Volmer, I heard 
what you have been saying, as you intended I should, 
and now I tell you to go out of this house and stay 
out, until you can speak respectfully of Lieutenant 
Rae and of me." But he sat still and looked sullen 
and stubborn. I said again, " Go out, and out of the 
yard too." But he did not move one inch. 

By that time I was furious, and going to the door 
that was so close to the man he could have struck 
me, I opened it wide, and pointing out with out- 
stretched arm I said, " You go instantly ! " and in- 
stantly he went. Chinamen are awful cowards, and 
with the first word I said to the soldier. Hang had 
shuffled to his own room, and there he had remained 
until he heard Volmer go out of the house. Then he 
came back, and looking at me with an expression of 
the most solemn pity, said, " He vellee blad man — he 
killee man — he killee you, meb-bee ! " The poor little 
heathen was evidently greatly disturbed, and so was 
I, too. Not because I was at all afraid of being 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 287 

killed, but because of the two spirited young horses 
that still required most careful handling. And Faye 
might be away several months ! I knew that the com- 
manding officer, also the quartermaster, would look 
after them and do everything possible to assist me, but 
at the same time I knew that there was not a man 
in the post who could take Volmer's place with the 
horses. He is a splendid whip and perfect groom. 
I could not send them to Mr. Vaughn's to run, as 
they had been blanketed for a long time, and the 
weather was cold. 

Of course I cried a little, but I knew that I had done 
quite right, that it was better for me to regulate my 
own affairs than to call upon the company commander 
to do so for me. I returned to the dining room, but 
soon there was a gentle knock on the door, and open- 
ing it, I saw Volmer standing in front of me, cap in 
hand, looking very meek and humble. Very respect- 
fully he apologized, and expressed his regret at having 
ofifended me. That was very pleasant, but knowing 
the man's violent temper, and thinking of coming 
days, I proceeded to deliver a lecture to the effect 
that there was not another enlisted man in the regi- 
ment who would use such language in our house, or 
be so ungrateful for kindness that we had shown him. 
Above all, to make it unpleasant for me when I was 
alone. 

I was so nervous, and talking to a soldier that way 
was so very disagreeable, I might have broken down 
and cried again — an awful thing to have done at that 
time — if I had not happened to have seen Hang's head 
sticking out at one side of his door. He had run 
to his room again, but could not resist keeping watch 



288 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

to see if V^olmer was really intending to " killee " 
me. He is afraid of the soldier, and consequently 
hates him. Soon after he came, Volmer, who is a 
powerful man, tied him down to his bed with a picket 
rope, and such yells of fury and terror were never 
heard, and when I ran out to see what on earth was 
the matter, the Chinaman's eyes were green, and he 
was frothing at the mouth. For days after I was 
afraid that Hang would do some mischief to the man. 

It is the striker's duty always to attend to the fires 
throughout the house, and this Volmer is doing very 
nicely. But when Faye went away he told Hang to 
take good care of me — so he, also, fixes the fires, 
and at the same time shows his dislike for Vol- 
mer, who will bring the big wood in and make the 
fires as they should be. Just as soon as he goes out, 
however, in marches Hang, with one or two small 
pieces of wood on his silk sleeve, and then, with much 
noise, he turns the wood in the stove upside down, and 
stirs things up generally, after which he will put in 
the little sticks and let it all roar until I am quite as 
stirred up as the fire. After he closes the dampers 
he will say to me in his most amiable squeak, " Me 
flixee him — he vellee glood now." This is all very 
nice as long as the house does not burn. 

Night before last Mrs. Mills invited me to a fam- 
ily dinner. Colonel Mills was away, but Mr. Hughes 
was there, also Lieutenant Harvey to whom Miss 
Mills is engaged, and the three Mills boys, making 
a nice little party. But I felt rather sad — Faye was 
still en route to Washington, and going farther from 
home every hour, and it was impossible to tell when 
he would return. Mrs. Mills seemed distraite, too, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 289 

when I first got to the house, but she soon brightened 
up and was as animated as ever. The dinner was per- 
fect. Colonel Mills is quite an epicure, and he and 
Mrs. Mills have a reputation for serving choice and 
dainty things on their table. We returned to the lit- 
tle parlor after dinner, and were talking and laugh- 
ing, when something went bang! like the hard shut- 
ting of a door. 

Mrs. Mills jumped up instantly and exclaimed, " I 
knew it — I knew it ! " and rushed to the back part of 
the house, the rest of us running after her. She went 
on through to the Chinaman's room, and there, on his 
cot, lay the little man, his face even then the color 
of old ivory. He had fired a small Derringer straight 
to his heart and was quite dead. I did not like to look 
at the dying man, so I ran for the doctor and almost 
bumped against him at the gate as he was passing. 
There was nothing that he could do, however. 

Mrs. Mills told us that Sam had been an inveterate 
gambler — that he had won a great deal of money from 
the soldiers, particularly one, who had that very day 
threatened to kill him, accusing the Chinaman of hav- 
ing cheated. The soldier probably had no intention of 
doing anything of the kind, but said it to frighten the 
timid heathen, just for revenge. Sam had eaten a 
little dinner, and was eating ice-cream, evidently, when 
something or somebody made him go to his room and 
shoot himself. The next morning the Chinamen in 
the garrison buried him — not in the post cemetery, but 
just outside. Upon the grave they laid one or two 
suits of clothing, shoes — all Chinese, of course — and 
a great quantity of food — much of it their own fruits. 
That was for his spirit until it reached the Happy Land. 



290 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



The coyotes ate the food, but a Chinaman would never 
believe that, so more food was taken out this morning. 
They are such a queer people! Hang's breakfast 
usually consists of a glass of cold water with two or 
three lumps of sugar dissolved in it and a piece of 
bread broken in it also. When it is necessary for 
Hang to be up late and do much extra work, I always 
give him a can of salmon, of which he seems very 
fond — or a chicken, and tell him to invite one or two 
friends to sit with him. This smooths away all little 
frowns and keeps things pleasant. Volmer killed the 
chicken once, and Hang brought it to me with eyes 
blazing — said it was poor — and " He ole-ee hin," so 
I found that the only way to satisfy the suspicious 
man was to let him select his own fowl. He al- 
ways cooks it in the one way — boils it with Chinese 
fruits and herbs, and with the head and feet on — and 
I must admit that the odor is appetizing. But I have 
never tasted it, although Hang has never failed to 
save a nice piece for me. He was with Mrs. Pierce 
two years, and it was some time before I could con- 
vince him that this house was regulated my way and 
not hers. Major Pierce was promoted to another regi- 
ment and we miss them verv much. 



Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
July, 1882. 

THE garrison seems lonesome since the two com- 
panies have been out, and I am beginning to feel 
that I am at home alone quite too much. Faye was 
in Washington two months, and almost immediately 
after he got back he was ordered to command the 
paymaster's escort from Helena here, and now he is 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 291 

off again for the summer! The camp is on Birch 
Creek not far from the Piegan Agency. The agents 
become frightened every now and then, and ask for 
troops, more because they know the Indians would be 
justified in giving trouble than because there is any. 

An officer is sent from the post to inspect all the 
cattle and rations that are issued to them — yet there 
is much cheating. Once it was discovered that a very 
inferior brand of flour was being given the Indians 
— that sacks with the lettering and marks of the brand 
the government was supposed to issue to them had 
been slipped over the sacks which really held the in- 
ferior flour, and carefully tied. Just imagine the 
trouble some one had taken, but there had been a fat 
reward, of course, and then, where had those extra 
sacks come from — where had the fine flour gone? 

Some one could have explained it all. I must ad- 
mit, however, that anyone who has seen an Indian 
use flour would say that the most inferior grade would 
be good enough for them, to be mixed in dirty old 
pans, with still dirtier hands. This lack of cleanliness 
and appreciation of things by the Indians makes 
stealing from them very tempting. 

The very night after the troops had gone out there 
was an excitement in the garrison, and, as usual, I was 
mixed up in it, not through my own choosing, how- 
ever. I had been at Mrs. Palmer's playing whist dur- 
ing the evening, and about eleven o'clock two of the 
ladies came down to the house with me. The night 
was the very darkest I ever saw, and of this we spoke 
as we came along the walk. Almost all the lights 
were out in the officers' quarters, making the whole 
post seem dismal, and as I came in the house and 



292 ARMY LETTERSFROM 

locked the door, I felt as if I could never remain 
here until morning-. Hang was in his room, of course, 
but would be no protection whatever if anything 
should happen. 

Major and Mrs. Stokes have not yet returned from 
the East, so the adjoining house is unoccupied, and on 
my right is Mrs. Norton, who is alone also, as Doctor 
Norton is in camp with the troops. She had urged me 
to go to her house for the night, but I did not go, 
because of the little card party. I ran upstairs as 
though something evil was at my heels and bolted my 
door, but did not fasten the dormer windows that run 
out on the roof in front. Before retiring, I put a 
small, lighted lantern in a closet and left the door 
open just a little, thinking that the streak of light 
would be cheering and the lantern give me a light 
quickly if I should need one. 

Our breakfast had been very early that morning, 
on account of the troops marching, and I was tired 
and fell asleep immediately, I think. After a while I 
was conscious of hearing some one walking about in 
the room corresponding to mine in the next house, 
but I dozed on, thinking to myself that there was no 
occasion for feeling nervous, as the people next door 
were still up. But suddenly I remembered that the 
house was closed, and just then I distinctly heard 
some one go down the stairs. I kept very still and 
listened, but heard nothing more and soon went to 
sleep again, but again I was awakened — this time by 
queer noises — like some one walking on a roof. There 
were voices, too, as if some one was mumbling to 
himself. 

I got the revolver and ran to the middle of the room, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 293 

where I stood ready to shoot or run — it would prob- 
ably have been run — in any direction. I finally got 
courage to look through a side window, feeling quite 
sure that Mrs. Norton was out with her Chinaman, 
looking after some choice little chickens left in her 
care by the doctor. But not one light was to be seen 
in any place, and the inky blackness was awful to look 
upon, so I turned away, and just as I did so, some- 
thing cracked and rattled down over the shingles and 
then fell to the ground. But which roof those sounds 
came from was impossible to tell. With " goose 
flesh " on my arms, and each hair on my head trying 
to stand up, I went back to the middle of the room, 
and there I stood, every nerve quivering. 

I had been standing there hours — or possibly it was 
only two short minutes — when there was one loud, 
piercing shriek, that made me almost scream, too. But 
after it was perfect silence, so I said to myself that 
probably it had been a cat — that I was nervous and 
silly. But there came another shriek, another, and 
still another, so expressive of terror that the blood al- 
most froze in my veins. With teeth chattering and 
limbs shaking so I could hardly step, I went to a front 
window, and raising it I screamed, " Corporal of the 
guard ! " 

I saw the sentinel at the guardhouse stop, as 
though listening, in front of a window where there 
was a light, and seeing one of the guard gave strength 
to my voice, and I called again. That time the sentry 
took it up, and yelled, " Corporal of the guard. No. 
I ! " Instantly lanterns were seen coming in our di- 
rection — ever so many of the guard came, and to our 
gate as they saw me at a window. But I sent them 
20 



294 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



on to the next house where they found poor Mrs. 
Norton in a white heap on the grass, quite unconscious. 

The officer of the day was still up and came run- 
ning to see what the commotion was about — and sev- 
eral other officers came. Colonel Gregory, a punctilious 
gentleman of the old school — who is in command just 
now — appeared in a striking costume, consisting of 
a skimpy evening gown of white, a dark military 
blouse over that, and a ])air of military riding boots, 
and he carried an unsheathed saber. He is very tall 
and thin and his hair is very white, and I laugh now 
when I think of how funny he looked. But no one 
thought of laughing at that time. Mrs. Norton was 
carried in, and her house searched throughout. No 
one was found, but burned matches were on the floor 
of one or two rooms, which gave evidence that some 
one had been there. 

In the yard back of the house a pair of heavy over- 
shoes, also government socks, were found, so it was 
decided that the man had climbed up on the roof and 
entered the house through a dormer window that had 
not been fastened. No one would look for the piece 
of shingle that night, but in the morning I found it 
on the ground close to the house. 

All the time the search was being made I had been 
in the window. Colonel Mills insisted that I should 
go to his house for the remainder of the night, but 
suggested that I put some clothes on first ! It oc- 
curred to me then, for the first time, that my own 
costume was rather striking — not quite the proper 
thing for a balcony scene. Everyone was more than 
kind, but for a long time after Miss Mills and I had 
gone to her room my teeth chattered and big tears 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 295 

rolled down my face. Mrs. Norton declares that I 
was more frightened than she was, and I say, " Yes, 
probably, but you did not stop to listen to your own 
horrible screams, and then, after making us believe 
that you were being murdered, you quietly dropped 
into oblivion and forgot the whole thing." 

Just as the entire garrison had become quiet once 
more — bang! went a gun, and then again we heard 
people running about to see what was the matter, and 
if the burglar had been caught. But it proved to have 
been the accidental going off of a rifle at the guard- 
house. The instant that Colonel Gregory ascertained 
that a soldier had really been in Mrs. Norton's house, 
check roll-call was ordered — that is, the officer of the 
day went to the different barracks and ordered the 
first sergeants to get the men up and call the roll at 
once, without warning or preparation. In that way it 
was ascertained if the men were on their cots or out 
of quarters. But that night every man was " present 
or accounted for." At the hospital, roll-call was not 
necessary, but they found an attendant playing pos- 
sum ! A lantern held close to his face did not waken 
him, although it made his eyelids twitch, and they 
found that his heart was beating at a furious rate. 
His clothes had been thrown down on the floor, but 
socks were not to be fovmd with them. 

So he is the man suspected. He will get his dis- 
charge in three days, and it is thought that he was 
after a suit of citizen clothes of the doctor's. Not so 
very long ago he was their striker. No one in the 
garrison has ever heard of an enlisted man troubling 
the quarters of an officer, and it is something that 
rarely occurs. I spend every night with Mrs. Norton 



296 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

now, who seems to have great confidence in my abihty 
to protect her, as I can use a revolver so well. She 
calmly sleeps on, while I remain awake listening for 
footsteps. The fact of my having been at a military 
post when it was attacked by Indians — that a man was 
murdered directly under my window, when I heard 
every shot, every moan — and my having had two un- 
pleasant experiences with horse thieves, has not been 
conducive to normal nerves after dark. 

During all the commotion at Mrs. Norton's the night 
the man got in her house, her Chinaman did not ap- 
pear. One of the officers went to his room in search 
of the burglar and found him — the Chinaman — sit- 
ting up in his bed, almost white from fear. He con- 
fessed to having heard some one in the kitchen, and 
when asked why he did not go out to see who it was, 
indignantly replied, " What for? — he go way, what 
for I see him? " 

I feel completely upset without a good saddle horse. 
George is developing quite a little speed in single 
harness, but I do not care for driving — feel too much 
as though I was part of the little buggy instead of the 
horse. Major and Mrs. Stokes are expected soon from 
the East, and I shall be so glad to have my old neigh- 
bors back. 



Camp on Birch Creek, 
near plegan agency, montana territory, 
September, 1882. 

Y this time you must have become accustomed to 
getting letters from all sorts of out-of-the-way 
places, therefore I will not weary you with long ex- 
planations, but simply say that Major Stokes and 
Faye sent for Mrs, Stokes and me to come to camp, 



B 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 297 

thinking to give us a pleasant little outing. We came 
over with the paymaster and his escort. Major Car- 
penter seemed delighted to have us with him, and nat- 
urally Mrs. Stokes and I were in a humor to enjoy 
everything. We brought a nice little luncheon with us 
for everybody — that is, everyone in the ambulance. 
The escort of enlisted men were in a wagon back of us, 
but the officer in charge was with us. 

The Indians have quieted dow^n, and several of the 
officers have gone on leave, so with the two companies 
now here there are only Major Stokes, who is in com- 
mand, Faye, Lieutenant Todd, and Doctor Norton. 
Mrs. Stokes has seen much of camp life, and enjoys 
it now and then as much as I do. The importance of 
our husbands as hosts — their many efforts to make us 
comfortable and entertain us — is amusing, yet very 
lovely. They give us no rest whatever, but as soon as 
we return from one little excursion another is imme- 
diately proposed. There is a little spring wagon in 
camp with two seats, and there are two fine mules to 
pull it, and with this really comfortable turn-out we 
drive about the country. Major Stokes is military in- 
spector of supplies at this agency, and every Piegan 
knows him, so when we meet Indians, as we do often, 
there is always a powwow. 

Three days ago we packed the little wagon with 
wraps and other things, and Major and Mrs. Stokes, 
Faye, and I started for a two days' outing at a little 
lake that is nestled far up on the side of a mountain. 
It is about ten miles from here. There is only a wagon 
trail leading to it, and as you go on up and up, and 
see nothing but rocks and trees, it would never occur 
to you that the steep slope of the mountain could be 



298 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

broken, that a lake of good size could be hidden on 
its side. You do not get a ghmpse of it once, until 
you drive between the bushes and boulders that border 
its banks, and then it is all before you in amazing 
beauty. The reflections are wonderful, the high lights 
showing with exquisite sharpness against the dark 
green and purple depths of the clear, spring water. 

The lake is fearfully deep — the Indians insist that 
in places it is bottomless — and it is teeming with trout, 
the most delicious mountain trout that can be caught 
any place, and which come up so cold one can easily 
fancy there is an iceberg somewhere down below. 
Some of these fish are fourteen or more inches long. 

It was rather late in the afternoon when we reached 
the lake, so we hurriedly got ourselves ready for fish- 
ing, for we were thinking of a trout dinner. Four 
enlisted men had followed us with a wagon, in which 
were our tents, bedding, and boxes of provisions, and 
these men busied themselves at once by putting up 
the little tents and making preparations for dinner, 
and we were anxious to get enough fish for their din- 
ner as well as our own. At a little landing we found 
two row-boats, and getting in these we were soon out 
on the lake. 

If one goes to Fish Lake just for sport, and can be 
contented with taking in two or three fish during an 
all day's hard work, flies should be used always, but 
if one gets up there when the shadows are long and 
one's dinner is depending upon the fish caught, one 
might as well begin at once with grasshoppers — at 
least, that is what I did. I carried a box of fine yellow 
grasshoppers up with me, and I cast one over before 
the boat had fairly settled in position. It was seized 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 299 

the instant it had touched the water, and down, down 
went the trout, its white sides glistening through the 
clear water. For some reason still unaccountable I 
let it go, and yard after yard of line was reeled out. 
Perhaps, after all, it was fascination that kept me from 
stopping the plunge of the fish, that never stopped 
until the entire line was let out. That brought me to 
my senses, and I reeled the fish up and got a fine 
trout, but I also got at the same time an uncontrollable 
longing for land. To be in a leaky, shaky old boat 
over a watery, bottomless pit, as the one that trout 
had been down in, was more than I could calmly en- 
dure, so with undisguised disgust Faye rowed me 
back to the landing, where I caught quite as many fish 
as anyone out in the boats. 

One of the enlisted men prepared dinner for us, and 
fried the trout in olive oil, the most perfect way of 
cooking mountain trout in camp. They were delicious 
— so fresh from the icy water that none of their deli- 
cate flavor had been lost, and were crisp and hot. 
We had cups of steaming coffee and all sorts of nice 
things from the boxes we had brought from the post. 
A flat boulder made a grand table for us, and of 
course each one had his little camp stool to sit upon. 
Altogether the dinner was a success, the best part of 
it being, perhaps, the exhilarating mountain air that 
gave us such fine appetites, and a keen appreciation of 
everything ludicrous. 

While we were fishing, our tents had been arranged 
for us in real soldier fashion. Great bunches of long 
grass had been piled up on each side underneath the 
little mattresses, which raised the beds from the 
ground and made them soft and springy. Those " A " 



300 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

tents are very small and low, and it is impossible to 
stand up in one except in the center under the ridge- 
pole, for the canvas is stretched from the ridgepole 
to the ground, so the only walls are back and front, 
where there is an opening. I had never been in one 
before and was rather appalled at its limitations, and 
neither had I ever slept on the ground before, but I 
had gone prepared for a rough outing. Besides, I 
knew that everything possible had been done to make 
Mrs. Stokes and me comfortable. The air was chilly 
up on the mountain, but we had any number of heavy 
blankets that kept us warm. 

The night was glorious with brilliant moonlight, 
and the shadows of the pine trees on the white canvas 
were black and wonderfully clear cut, as the wind 
swayed the branches back and forth. The sounds 
of the wind were dismal, soughing and moaning as all 
mountain winds do, and made me think of the Bogy- 
man and other things. I found myself wondering if 
anything could crawl under the tent at my side. I 
wondered if snakes could have been brought in with 
the grass. I imagined that I heard things moving 
about, but all the time I was watching those exquisite 
shadows of the pine needles in a dreamy sort of way. 

Then all at once I saw the shadow of one, then 
three, things as they ran up the canvas and darted 
this way and that like crazy things, and which could not 
possibly have grown on a pine tree. And almost at 
the same instant, something pulled my hair! With a 
scream and scramble I was soon out of that tent, but 
of course when I moved all those things had moved, 
too, and wholly disappeared. So I was called foolish 
to be afraid in a tent after the weeks and months I had 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 301 

lived in camp. But just then Mrs. Stokes ran from her 
tent, Major Stokes slowly following, and then it came 
out that there had been trouble over there also, and 
that I was not the only one in disgrace. Mrs. Stokes 
had seen queer shadows on her canvas, and coming to 
me, said, " Will says those things are squirrels ! " 
That was too much, and I replied with indignation, 
" They are not squirrels at all ; they are too small and 
their tails are not bushy." 

Well, there was a time! We refused absolutely, 
positively, to go back to our tents until we knew all 
about those darting shadows. We saw that those two 
disagreeable men had an understanding with each 
other and were much inclined to laugh. It was cold 
and our wrappers not very warm, but Mrs. Stokes and 
I finally sat down upon some camp stools to await 
events. Then Faye, who can never resist an oppor- 
tunity to tease, said to me, " You had better take care, 
mice might run up that stool ! " So the cat was out ! 
I have never been afraid of mice, and have always 
considered it very silly in women to make such a fuss 
over them. But those field mice were different ; they 
seemed inclined to take the very hair from your head. 
Of course we could not sit up all night, and after a 
time had to return to our tents. I wrapped my head 
up securely, so my hair could not be carried off with- 
out my knowing something about it. Ever so many 
times during the night I heard talking and smothered 
laughter, and concluded that the soldiers also were 
having small visitors with four swift little legs. 

We had more delicious trout for our breakfast ; that 
time fried with tiny strips of breakfast bacon. The 
men had been out on the lake very early, and had 



302 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

caught several dozen beautiful fish. The dinner the 
evening before had been much Hke an ordinary picnic, 
but the early breakfast up on the side of a mountain, 
with big boulders all around, was something to 
remember. One can never imagine the deliciousness 
of the air at sunrise up on the Rocky Mountains. It 
has to be breathed to be appreciated. 

Everyone fished during the morning and many fish 
were caught, every one of which were carefully packed 
in wet grass and brought to Birch Creek, to the unfor- 
tunates who had not been on that most delightful trip 
to Fish Lake. After luncheon we came down from 
the mountain and drove to the Piegan Agency. The 
heavy wagon came directly to camp, of course. There 
is nothing remarkable to be seen at the agency — just 
a number of ordinary buildings, a few huts, and In- 
dians standing around the door of a store that resem- 
bles a post trader's. Every Indian had on a blanket, 
although Major Stokes said there were several among 
them who had been to the Carlisle School. 

Along the road before we reached the agency, and 
for some distance after we had left it, we passed a 
number of little one-room log huts occupied by In- 
dians, often with two squaws and large families of 
children ; and at some of these we saw wretched at- 
tempts at gardening. Those Indians are provided with 
plows, spades, and all sorts of implements necessary 
for the making of proper gardens, and they are given 
grain and seeds to plant, but seldom are any of these 
things made use of. An Indian scorns work of any 
kind — that is only for squaws. The squaws will 
scratch up a bit of ground with sticks, put a little 
seed in, and then leave it for the sun and rain to do 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 303 

with as it sees fit. No more attention will be paid 
to it, and half the time the seed is not covered. 

One old chief raised some wheat one year — I pre- 
sume his squaws did all the work — and he gathered 
several sackfuls, which was made into flour at the 
agency mill. The chief was very proud. But when 
the next quarterly issue came around, his ration of 
flour was lessened just the amount his wheat had 
made, which decided all future farming for him ! 
Why should he, a chief, trouble himself about learning 
to farm and then gain nothing in the end ! There is a 
fine threshing machine at the agency, but the Indians 
will have nothing whatever to do with it. They can- 
not understand its workings and call it the " Devil 
Machine." 

As we were nearing the Indian village across the 
creek from us, we came to a most revolting spectacle. 
Two or three Indians had just killed an ox, and were 
slashing and cutting off pieces of the almost quiver- 
ing flesh, in a way that left little pools of blood in 
places on the side. There were two squaws with 
them, squatted on the ground by the dead animal, and 
those hideous, fiendish creatures were scooping up the 
warm blood with their hands and greedily drinking 
it! Can one imagine anything more horrible? We 
stopped only a second, but the scene was too repulsive 
to be forgotten. It makes me shiver even now when 
I think of the flashing of those big knives and of how 
each one of the savages seemed to be reveling in the 
smell and taste of blood ! I feel that they could have 
slashed and cut into one of us with the same relish. 
It was much like seeing a murder committed. 
Major Stokes told us last evening that when he re- 



304 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

turned from the East a few weeks ago, he discovered 
that one of a pair of beautiful pistols that had been 
presented to him had been stolen, that some one had 
gone upstairs and taken it out of the case that was 
in a closet corresponding to mine, so that accounts for 
the footsteps I heard in that house the night the man 
entered Mrs. Norton's house. But how did the man 
know just where to get a pistol? The hospital attend- 
ant who was suspected that night got his discharge 
a few days later. He stayed around the garrison so 
long that finally Colonel Gregory ordered him to leave 
the reservation, and just before coming from the post 
we heard that he had shot a man and was in jail. A 
very good place for him, I think. 

We expect to return to the post in a few days. I 
would like to remain longer, but as everybody and 
everything will go, I can't very well. The trout fish- 
ing in Birch Creek is very good, and I often go for a 
little fish, sometimes alone and sometimes Mrs. Stokes 
will go with me. I do not go far, because of the dread- 
ful Indians that are always wandering about. They 
have a small village across the creek from us, and 
every evening we hear their " tom-toms " as they chant 
and dance, and when the wind is from that direction 
we get a smell now and then of their dirty tepees. 
Major Stokes and Mrs. Stokes, also, see the noble side 
of Indians, but that side has always been so covered 
with blankets and other dirty things I have never 
found it ! 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 305 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 

November, 1882. 

YOU will be shocked, I know, when you hear that 
we are houseless — homeless — that for the second 
time Faye has been ranked out of quarters ! At Camp 
Supply the turn out was swift, but this time it has been 
long drawn out and most vexatious. Last month 
Major Bagley came here from Fort Maginnis, and as 
we had rather expected that he would select our house, 
we made no preparations for winter previous to his 
coming. But as soon as he reached the post, and many 
times after, he assured Faye that nothing could pos- 
sibly induce him to disturb us, and said many more 
sweet things. 

Unfortunately for us, he was ordered to return to 
Fort Maginnis to straighten out some of his accounts 
while quartermaster, and Mrs. Bagley decided to remain 
as she was until Major Bagley's return. He was away 
one month, and during that time the gardener stored 
away in our little cellar our vegetables for the winter, 
including quantities of beautiful celery that was packed 
in boxes. All those things had to be taken down a 
ladder, which made it really very hard work. Having 
faith in Major Bagley's word, the house was cleaned 
from top to bottom, much painting and calcimining 
having been done. All the floors were painted and 
hard-oiled, and everyone knows what discomfort that 
always brings about. But at last everything was fin- 
ished, and we were about to settle down to the enjoy- 
ment of a tidy, cheerful little home when Major Bag- 
ley appeared the second time, and within two hours 
Faye was notified that his quarters had been selected 
by him ! 



3o6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

We are at present in two rooms and a shed that 
happened to be unoccupied, and I feel very much as 
though I was in a second-hand shop. Things are 
piled up to the ceiling in both rooms, and the shed is 
full also. All of the vegetables were brought up from 
the cellar, of course, and as the weather has been very 
cold, the celery and other tender things were frozen. 
General and Mrs. Bourke have returned, and at once 
insisted upon our going to their house, but as there was 
nothing definite about the time when we will get our 
house, we said " No." We are taking our meals with 
them, however, and Hang is there also, teaching their 
new Chinaman. But I can assure you that I am more 
than cross. If Major Bagley had selected the house 
the first time he came, or even if he had said nothing at 
all about the quarters, much discomfort and unpleas- 
antness would have been avoided. They will get our 
nice clean house, and we will get one that will require 
the same renovating we have just been struggling 
with. I have made up my mind unalterably to one 
thing — the nice little dinner I had expected to give 
Major and Mrs. Bagley later on, will be for other peo- 
ple, friends who have had less honey to dispose of. 

The splendid hunting was interrupted by the move, 
too. Every October in this country we have a snow- 
storm that lasts usually three or four days ; then the 
snow disappears and there is a second fall, with clear 
sunny days until the holidays. This year the weather 
remained warm and the storm was later than usual, 
but more severe when it did come, driving thousands 
of water-fowl down with a rush from the mountain 
streams and lakes. There is a slough around a little 
plateau near the post, and for a week or more this 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 307 

was teeming with all kinds of ducks, until it was 
frozen over. Sometimes we would see several species 
quietly feeding together in the most friendly way. 
Faye and I would drive the horses down in the cut- 
ter, and I would hold them while he walked on ahead 
hunting. 

One day, when the snow was falling in big moist 
flakes that were so thick that the world had been nar- 
rowed down to a few yards around us, we drove to 
some tall bushes growing on the bank of the slough. 
Faye was hunting, and about to make some ducks 
rise when he heard a great whir over his head, and 
although the snow was so thick he could not see just 
what was there, he quickly raised his gun and fired 
at something he saw moving up there. To his great 
amazement and my horror, an immense swan dropped 
down and went crashing through the bushes. It was 
quite as white as the snow on the ground, and com- 
ing from the dense cloud of snow above, where no 
warning of its presence had been given, no call 
sounded, one felt that there was something queer 
about it all. With its enormous wings spread, it looked 
like an angel coming to the earth. 

The horses thought so, also, for as soon as it touched 
the bushes they bolted, and for a few minutes I was 
doubtful if I could hold them. I was so vexed with 
them, too, for I wanted to see that splendid bird. 
They went around and around the plateau, and about 
all I was able to do at first was to keep them from 
going to the post. They finally came down to a trot, 
but it was some time before I could coax them to go 
to the bushes where the swan had fallen. I did not 
blame them much, for when the big bird came down, 



3o8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

it seemed as if the very heavens were falHng. We 
supplied our friends with ducks several days, and upon 
our own dinner table duck was served ten successive 
days. And it was just as acceptable the last day 
as the first, for almost every time there was a dif- 
ferent variety, the cinnamon, perhaps, being the most 
rare, 

Last year Hang was very contrary about the pack- 
ing down of the eggs for winter use. I always put 
them in salt, but he thought they should be put in 
oats because Mrs. Pierce had packed hers that way. 
You know he had been Mrs. Pierce's cook two years 
before he came to me, and for a time he made me 
weary telling how she had things done. Finally I told 
him he must do as I said, that he was my cook now. 
There was peace for a while, and then came the eggs. 

He would not do one thing to assist me, not even 
take down the eggs, and looked at Volmer with scorn 
when he carried down the boxes and salt. I said noth- 
ing, knowing what the result would be later on if 
Hang remained with me. When the cold weather 
came and no more fresh eggs were brought in, it was 
astonishing to see how many things that stubborn 
Chinaman could make without any eggs at all. Get 
them out of the salt he simply would not. Of course 
that could not continue forever, so one day I brought 
some up and left them on his table without saying a 
word. He used them, and after that there was no 
trouble, and one day in the spring he brought in to 
show me some beautifully beaten eggs, and said, 
" Velly glood — allee same flesh." 

This fall when the time came to pack eggs, I said, 
" Hang, perhaps we had better pack the eggs in oats 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 309 

this year." He said, " Naw, loats no glood ! " Then 
came my revenge. I said, " Mrs. Pierce puts hers in 
oats," but he became angry and said, " Yes, me know 
— Alissee Pleese no know — slalt makee him allee 
same flesh." And in salt they are, and Hang packed 
every one. I offered to show him how to do it, but 
he said, " Me know — you see." It gave him such a 
fine opportunity to dictate to Volmer! If the striker 
did not bring the eggs the very moment he thought 
they should be in, Hang would look him up and say, 
" You bling leggs ! " Just where these boxes of eggs 
are I do not know. The Chinaman has spirited them 
off to some place where they will not freeze. He can- 
not understand all this ranking out of quarters, par- 
ticularly after he had put the house in perfect order. 
When I told him to sweep the rooms after everything 
had been carried out, he said: "What for? You 
cleanee house nuft* for him ; he no care," and off he 
went. I am inclined to think that the little man was 
right, after all. 

There have been many changes in the garrison dur- 
ing the past few months, and a number of our friends 
have gone to other posts. Colonel and Mrs. Palmer, 
Major and Mrs. Pierce, and Doctor and Mrs. Gordon 
are no longer here. We have lost, consequently, both 
of our fine tenors and excellent organist, and our little 
choir is not good now. Some of us will miss in other 
ways Colonel Palmer's cultivated voice. During the 
summer four of us found much pleasure in practicing 
together the light operas, each one learning the one 
voice through the entire opera. 

When we get settled, if we ever do, we will be at 
our old end of the garrison again, and our neighbors 
21 



310 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

on either side will be charming people. There is some 
consolation in that; nevertheless, I am thinking all the 
time of the pretty walls and shiny floors we had to 
give up, and to a very poor housekeeper, too. After 
we get our house, it will take weeks to fix it up, and it 
will be impossible to take the same interest in it that 
we found in the first. If Faye gets his first lieuten- 
ancy in the spring, it is possible that we may have to 
go to another post, which will mean another move. 
But I am tired and cross ; anyone would be under such 
uncomfortable conditions. 



Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, 
March, 1883. 

THE trip over was by far the most enjoyable of 
any we have taken between Fort Shaw and this 
post, and we were thankful enough that we could 
come before the snow began to melt on the mountains. 
Our experience with the high water two years ago 
was so dreadful that we do not wish to ever encounter 
anything of the kind again. The weather was de- 
lightful — with clear, crisp atmosphere, such as can be 
found only in this magnificent Territory. It was such 
a pleasure to have our own turn-out, too, and to be 
able to see the mountains and canons as we came 
along, without having our heads bruised by an old 
ambulance. 

Faye had to wait almost twelve years for a first 
lieutenancy, and now, when at last he has been pro- 
moted, it has been the cause of our leaving dear 
friends and a charming garrison, and losing dear yellow 
Hang, also. The poor little man wept when he said 
good-by to me in Helena. We had just arrived and 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 311 

were still on the walk in front of the hotel, and of 
course all the small boys in the street gathered around 
us. I felt very much like weeping, too, and am afraid 
I will feel even more so when I get in my own home. 
Hang is going right on to China, to visit his mother 
one year, and I presume that his people will consider 
him a very rich man, with the twelve hundred dol- 
lars he has saved. He has never cut his hair, and 
has never worn American clothes. Even in the win- 
ter, when it has been freezing cold, he would shuffle 
along on the snow with his Chinese shoes. 

I shall miss the pretty silk coats about the house, 
and his swift, almost noiseless going around. That 
Chinamen are not more generally employed I cannot 
understand, for they make such exceptional servants. 
They are wonderfully economical, and can easily do 
the work of two maids, and if once you win their con- 
fidence and their affection they are your slaves. But 
they are very suspicious. Once, when Bishop Tuttle 
was with us, he wanted a pair of boots blackened, and 
set them in his room where Hang could see them, and 
on the toe of one he put a twenty-five cent piece. 
Hang blackened the boots beautifully, and then put 
the money back precisely where it was in the first 
place. Then he came to me and expressed his opinion 
of the dear bishop. He said, " China-man no stealee 
— you tellee him me no stealee — he see me no takee 
him " — and then he insisted upon my going to see 
for myself that the money was on the boot. I was 
awfully distressed. The bishop was to remain with 
us several days, and no one could tell how that China- 
man might treat him, for I saw that he was deeply 
hurt, but it was utterly impossible to make him believe 



312 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

otherwise than that the quarter had been put there 
to test his honesty. I finally concluded to tell the 
bishop all about it, knowing that his experience with 
all kinds of human nature had been great in his trav- 
els about to his various missions, and his kindness and 
tact with miner, ranchman, and cowboy ; he is now 
called by them lovingly " The Cowboy Bishop." He 
laughed heartily about Hang, and said, " I'll fix that," 
which he must have done to Hang's entire satisfaction, 
for he fairly danced around the bishop during the re- 
mainder of his stay with us. 

Faye was made post quartermaster and commis- 
sary as soon as he reported for duty here, and is al- 
ready hard at work. The post is not large, but the 
office of quartermaster is no sinecure. An immense 
amount of transportation has to be kept in readiness 
for the field, for which the quartermaster alone is held 
responsible, and this is the base of supplies for out- 
fits for all parties — large and small — that go to the 
Yellowstone Park, and these are many, now that Liv- 
ingstone can be reached from the north or the south 
by the Northern Pacific Railroad. Immense pack 
trains have to be fitted out for generals, congressmen, 
even the President himself, during the coming season. 
These people bring nothing whatever with them for 
camp, but depend entirely upon the quartermaster here 
to fit them out as luxuriously as possible with tents 
and commissaries — even to experienced camp cooks ! 

The railroad has been laid straight through the 
post, and it looks very strange to see the cars running 
directly back of the company quarters. The long 
tunnel — it is to be called the I'ozeman tunnel — that 
has been cut through a large mountain is not quite 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



3T^3 



finished, and the cars are still run up over the moun- 
tain upon a track that was laid only for temporary 
use. It requires two engines to pull even the pas- 
senger trains up, and when the divide is reached the 
" pilot " is uncoupled and run down ahead, sometimes 
at terrific speed. One day, since we came, the engineer 
lost control, and the big black thing seemed almost to 
drop down the grade, and the shrieking of the con- 







"The 'pilot' is uncoupled and run down ahead." 



tinuous whistle was awful to listen to; it seemed as 
if it was the wailing of the souls of the two men being 
rushed on — perhaps to their death. The thing came 
on and went screaming through the post and on 
through Bozeman, and how much farther we do not 
know. Some of the enlisted men got a glimpse of the 
engineer as he passed and say that his face was like 
chalk. 

We will not be settled for some time, as Faye is 



314 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

to take a set of vacant quarters on the hill until one 
of the officers goes on leave, when we will move to 
that house, as it is nicer and nearer the offices. He 
could have taken it when we came had he been willing 
to turn anyone out. It seems to me that I am waiting 
for a house about half the time, yet when anyone 
wants our house it is taken at once ! 

For a few days we are with Lieutenant and Mrs. 
Fiske. They gave us an elegant dinner last evening. 
]\Iiss Burt and her brother came up from Bozeman. 
This evening we dine with Major and Mrs. Gillespie of 
the cavalry. He is in command of the post — and to- 
morrow we will dine with Captain and Mrs. Spencer. 
And so it will go on, probably, until everyone has en- 
tertained us in some delightful manner, as this is the 
custom in the Army when there are newcomers in 
the garrison. I am so sorry that these courtesies can- 
not be returned for a long time — until we get really 
settled, and then how I shall miss Hang! How I am 
to do without him I do not quite see. 

Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, 
July, 1884. 

THIS post is in a most dilapidated condition, and 
it — also the country about — looks as though it 
had been the scene of a fierce bombardment. And bom- 
barded we certainly have been — by a terrific hail- 
storm that made us feel for a time that our very lives 
were in danger. The day had been excessively warm, 
with brilliant sunshine until about three o'clock, when 
dark clouds were seen to be coming up over the Boze- 
man Valley, and everyone said that perhaps at last 
we would have the rain that was so much needed. I 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 315 

have been in so many frightful storms that came from 
innocent-looking clouds, that now I am suspicious of 
anything of the kind that looks at all threatening. 
Consequently, I was about the first person to notice 
the peculiar unbroken gray that had replaced the black 
of a few minutes before, and the first, too, to hear the 
ominous roar that sounded like the fall of an immense 
body of water, and which could be distinctly heard fif- 
teen minutes before the storm reached us. 

While I stood at the door listening and watching, I 
saw several people walking about in the garrison, each 
one intent upon his own business and not giving the 
storm a thought. Still, it seemed to me that it would 
be just as well to have the house closed tight, and 
calling Hulda we soon had windows and doors closed 
— not one minute too soon, either, for the storm came 
across the mountains with hurricane speed and struck 
us with such force that the thick-walled log houses 
fairly trembled. With the wind came the hail at the 
very beginning, changing the hot, sultry air into the 
coldness of icebergs. Most of the hailstones were the 
size of a hen's egg, and crashed through windows and 
pounded against the house, making a noise that was 
not only deafening but paralyzing. The sounds of 
breaking glass came from every direction and Hulda 
and I rushed from one room to the other, not know- 
ing what to do, for it was the same scene everyplace 
— floors covered with broken glass and hail pouring 
in through the openings. 

The ground upon which the officers' quarters are 
built is a little sloping, therefore it had to be cut away, 
back of the kitchen, to make the floor level for a large 
shed where ice chest and such things are kept, and 



3i6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

there are two or three steps at the door leading from 
the shed up to the ground outside. This gradual rise 
continues far back to the mountains, so by the time 
the hail and water reached us from above they had 
become one broad, sweeping torrent, ever increasing 
in volume. In one of the boards of our shed close 
to the steps, and just above the ground, there hap- 
pened to be a large " knot " which the pressure of the 
water soon forced out, and the water and hailstones 
shot through and straight across the shed as if from 
a fire hose, striking the wall of the main building! 
The sight was most laughable — that is, at first it was ; 
but we soon saw that the awful rush of water that was 
coming in through the broken sash and the remark- 
able hose arrangement back of the kitchen was rapidly 
flooding us. 

So I ran to the front door, and seeing a soldier at 
one of he barrack windows, I waved and waved my 
hand until he saw me. He understood at once and 
came running over, followed by three more men, who 
brought spades and other things. In a short time sods 
had been banked up at every door, and then the water 
ceased to come in. By that time the heaviest of the 
storm had passed over, and the men, who were most 
willing and kind, began to shovel out the enormous 
quantity of hailstones from the shed. They found 
by actual measurement that they were eight inches 
deep — solid hail, and over the entire floor. Much of 
the water had run into the kitchen and on through 
to the butler's pantry, and was fast making its way to 
the dining room when it was cut ofT. The scenes 
around the little house were awful. More or less 
water was in each room, and there was not one un- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 317 

broken pane of glass to be found, and that was not 
all — there was not one unbroken pane of glass in the 
whole post. That night Faye telegraphed to St. Paul 
for glass to replace nine hundred panes that had been 
broken. 

Faye was at the quartermaster's office when the 
storm came up, and while it was still hailing I hap- 
pened to look across the parade that way, and in the 
door I saw Faye standing. He had left the house 
not long before, dressed in a suit of immaculate white 
linen, and it was that suit that enabled me to recog- 
nize him through the veil of rain and hail. Sorry as 
I was, I had to laugh, for the picture was so ludicrous 
— Faye in those chilling white clothes, broken win- 
dows each side of him, and the ground covered with 
inches of hailstones and ice water ! He ran over 
soon after the men got here, but as he had to come 
a greater distance his pelting was in proportion. 
Many of the stones were so large it was really dan- 
gerous to be hit by them. 

When the storm was over the ground was white, 
as if covered with snow, and the high board fences 
that are around the yards back of the officers' quar- 
ters looked as though they had been used for targets 
and peppered with big bullets. Mount Bridger is 
several miles distant, yet we can distinctly see from 
here the furrows that were made down its sides. It 
looks as if deep ravines had been cut straight down 
from peak to base. The gardens are wholly ruined — 
not one thing was left in them. The poor Httle 
gophers were forced out of their holes by the water, 
to be killed by the hail, and hundreds of them are lying 
around dead. I wondered and wondered why Dryas 



3i8 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

did not come to our assistance, but he told us after- 
ward that when the storm first came he went to the 
stable to fasten the horses up snug,, and was then 
afraid to come away, first because of the immense 
hailstones, and later because both horses were so ter- 
rified by the crashing in of their windows, and the 
awful cannonade of hail on the roof. A new cook had 
come to us just the day before the storm, and I fully 
expected that she would start back to Bozeman that 
night, but she is still here, and was most patient over 
the awful condition of things all over the house. She 
is a Pole and a good cook, so there is a prospect of 
some enjoyment in life after the house gets straight- 
ened out. There was one thing peculiar about that 
storm. Bozeman is only three miles from here, yet 
not one hailstone, not one drop of rain did they get 
there. They saw the moving wall of gray and heard 
the roar, and feared that something terrible was hap- 
pening up here. 

The storm has probably ruined the mushrooms that 
we have found so delicious lately. At one time, just 
out of the post, there was a long, log stable for cav- 
alry horses which was removed two or three years 
ago, and all around, wherever the decayed logs had 
been, mushrooms have sprung up. When it rains is 
the time to get the freshest, and many a time Mrs. 
Fiske and I have put on long storm coats and gone 
out in the rain for them, each bringing in a large 
basket heaping full of the most delicate buttons. The 
quantity is no exaggeration whatever — and to be very 
exact, I would say that we invariably left about as 
many as we gathered. Usually we found the buttons 
massed together under the soft dirt, and when we 



AN OFFICER'S \V I F E 



319 



came to an umbrella-shaped mound with little cracks 
on top, we would carefully lift the dirt with a stick 
and uncover big clusters of buttons of all sizes. We 
always broke the large buttons off with the greatest 
care and settled the spawn back in the loose dirt for 
a future harvest. We often found large mushrooms 
above ground, and these were delicious baked with 
cream sauce. They would be about the size of an 
ordinary saucer, but tender and full of rich flavor — 
and the buttons would vary in size from a twenty-five- 
cent piece to a silver dollar, each one of a beautiful 
shell pink underneath. They were so very superior 
to mushrooms we had eaten before — with a delicious- 
ness all their own. 

We are wondering if the storm passed over the 
Yellowstone Park, where just now are many tents 
and considerable transportation. The party consists 
of the general of the Army, the department com- 
mander, members of their staffs, and two justices of 
the supreme court. From the park they are to go 
across country to Fort Missoula, and as there is only 
a narrow trail over the mountains they will have to 
depend entirely upon pack mules. These were sent up 
from Fort Custer for Faye to fit out for the entire 
trip, I went down to the corral to see them start out, 
and it was a sight well worth going to see. It was 
wonderful, and laughable, too, to see what one mule 
could carry upon his back and two sides. 

The pack saddles are queer looking things that are 
strapped carefully and firmly to the mules, and then 
the tents, sacks, boxes, even stoves are roped to the 
saddle. One poor mule was carrying a cooking stove. 
There were forty pack mules and one " bell horse " 



320 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

and ten packers — for of course it requires an expert 
packer to put the things on the saddle so they are per- 
fectly balanced and will not injure the animal's back. 
The bell horse leads, and wherever it goes the mules 
will follow. 

At present Faye is busy with preparations for two 
more parties of exceedingly distinguished personnel. 
One of these will arrive in a day or two, and is called 
the " Indian Commission," and consists of senator 
Dawes and fourteen congressmen. The other party 
for whom an elaborate camp outfit is being put in 
readiness consists of the President of the United 
States, the lieutenant general of the Army, the gov- 
ernor of Montana, and others of lesser magnitude. 
A troop of cavalry will escort the President through 
the park. Now that the park can be reached by rail- 
road, all of the generals, congressmen, and judges are 
seized with a desire to inspect it — in other words, it 
gives them a fine excuse for an outing at Uncle Sam's 
expense. 

Camp on Yellowstone River, Yellowstone Park, 
August, 1884. 

OUR camp is in a beautiful pine grove, just above 
the Upper Falls and close to the rapids ; from 
out tent we can look out on the foaming river as it 
rushes from one big rock to another. Far from the 
bank on an immense boulder that is almost sur- 
rounded by water is perched my tent companion, 
Miss Hayes. She says the view from there is grand, 
but how she can have the nerve to go over the wet, 
slippery rocks is a mystery to all of us, for by one 
little misstep she would be swept over the falls and 
to eternity. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 321 

Our party consists of Captain and Mrs. Spencer, 
their little niece, Miss Hayes, and myself — oh, yes, 
Lottie, the colored cook, and six or eight soldiers. We 
have part of the transportation that Major General 
Schofield used for this same trip two weeks ago, and 
which we found waiting for us at Mammoth Hot 
Springs. We also have two saddle horses. By having 
tents and our own transportation we can remain as long 
as we wish at any one place, and can go to many out- 
of-the-way spots that the regular tourist does not 
even hear of. But I do not intend to weary you with 
long descriptions of the park, the wonderful geysers, 
or the exquisitely tinted water in many of the springs, 
but to tell you of our trip, that has been most enjoy- 
able from the very minute we left Livingstone. 

We camped one night by the Fire-Hole River, where 
there is a spring I would like to carry home with me ! 
The water is very hot — boils up a foot pr so all the 
year round, and is so buoyant that in a porcelain tub 
of ordinary depth we found it difficult to do otherwise 
than float, and its softening effect upon the skin is 
delightful. A pipe has been laid from the spring to 
the little hotel, where it is used for all sorts of house- 
hold purposes. Just fancy having a stream of water 
that a furnace somewhere below has brought to boil- 
ing heat, running through your house at any and all 
times. They told us that during the winter when 
everything is frozen, all kinds of wild animals come 
to drink at the overflow of the spring. There are hun- 
dreds of hot springs in the park, I presume, but that 
one at Marshall's is remarkable for the purity of its 
water. 

Captain Spencer sent to the hotel for fresh meat and 



322 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

was amazed when the soldier brought back, instead of 
meat, a Hst from which he was asked to select. At that 
little log hotel of ten or twelve rooms there were 
seven kinds of meat — black-tail deer, white-tail deer, 
bear, grouse, prairie chicken, squirrels, and domestic 
fowl — the latter still in possession of their heads. 
Hunting in the park is prohibited, and the proprietor 
of that fine game market was most careful to explain 
to the soldier that everything had been brought from 
the other side of the mountain. That was probably 
true, but nevertheless, just as we were leaving the 
woods by " Hell's Half Acre," and were coming out 
on a beautiful meadow surrounded by a thick forest, 
we saw for one instant a deer standing on the bank 
of a little stream at our right, and then it disappeared 
in the forest. Captain Spencer was on horseback, and 
happening to look to the left saw a man skulking to 
the woods with a rifle in his hand. The poor deer 
would undoubtedly have been shot if we had been a 
minute or two later. 

For two nights our camp was in the pine forest 
back of " Old Faithful," and that gave us one whole 
day and afternoon with the geysers. Our colored 
cook was simply wild over them, and would spend 
hours looking down in the craters of those that were 
not playing. Those seemed to fascinate her above 
all things there, and at times she looked like a wild 
African when she returned to camp from one of them. 
Not far from the tents of the enlisted men was a 
small hot spring that boiled lazily in a shallow basin. 
It occurred to one of the men that it would make a 
fine laundry, so he tied a few articles of clothing se- 
curely to a stick and swished them up and down in 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



323 



the hot sulphur water and then hung them up to 
dry. Another soldier, taking notice of the success of 
that washing, decided to do even better, so he gathered 
all the underwear he had with him, except those he 
had on, and dropped them down in the basin. He 
used the stick, but only to push them about with, and 
alas ! did not fasten them to it. They swirled about 
for a time, and then all at once every article disap- 




,^^^;?j^ ,^-rr' 



"The poor deer would undoubtedly have been shot if we had been 
a minute later." 



peared, leaving the poor man in dumb amazement. 
He sat on the edge of the spring until dark, watch- 
ing and waiting for his clothes to return to him; but 
come back they did not. Some of the men watched 
with him, but most of them teased him cruelly. Such 
a loss on a trip like this was great. 

When we got to Obsidian Mountain, Miss Hayes 
and I decided that we would like to go up a little 
distance and get a few specimens to carry home with 



324 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

us. Our camp for the night was supposed to be only 
one mile farther on, and the enlisted men and two 
wagons were back of us, so we thought we could 
safely stay there by ourselves. The so-called moun- 
tain is really only a foothill to a large mountain, but 
is most interesting from the fact that it is covered with 
pieces of obsidian, mostly smoke-color, and that long 
ago Indians came there for arrowheads. 

A very narrow road has been cut out of the rocks at 
the base of the mountain, and about four feet above 
a small stream. It has two very sharp turns, and all 
around, as far as we could see, it would be exceed- 
ingly dangerous, if not impossible, for large wagons 
to pass. Miss Hayes and I went on up, gathering 
and rejecting pieces of obsidian that had probably 
been gathered and rejected by hundreds of tourists 
before us, and we were laughing and having a beau- 
tiful time when, for some reason, I looked back, and 
down on the point where the road almost doubles on 
itself I saw an old wagon with two horses, and stand- 
ing by the wagon were two men. They were looking 
at us, and very soon one beckoned. I looked all 
around, thinking that some of their friends must cer- 
tainly be near us, but no one was in sight. By that 
time one man was waving his hat to us, and then they 
actually called, " Come on down here — come down, it 
is all right ! " 

Miss Hayes is quite deaf, and I was obliged to go 
around rocks before I could get near enough to tell 
her of the wagon below, and the men not hear me. 
She gave the men and wagon an indifferent glance, 
and then went on searching for specimens. I was so 
vexed I could have shaken her. She will scream over 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 325 

a worm or spider, and almost faint at the sight of a 
snake, but those two men, who were apparently real 
tramps, she did not mind. The situation was critical, 
and for just one instant I thought hard. If we were to 
go over the small mountain we would probably be lost, 
and might encounter all sorts of wild beasts, and if 
those men were really vicious they could easily over- 
take us. Besides, it would never do to let them suspect 
that we were afraid. So I decided to go down — and 
slowly down I went, almost dragging Miss Hayes 
with me. She did not understand my tactics, and I 
did not stop to explain. 

I went right to the men, taking care to get between 
them and the road to camp. I asked them if they were 
in trouble of any kind, and they said " No." I could 
hardly control my voice, but it seemed important that 
I should give them to understand at once who we 
were. So I said, " Did you meet our friends in the 
army ambulance just down the road ? " The two 
looked at each other and then one said " Yes ! " I 
continued with, " There are two very large and 
heavily loaded army wagons, and a number of soldiers 
coming down the other road that should be here right 
now." They smiled again, and said something to each 
other, but I interrupted with, " I do not see how those 
big wagons and four mules can pass you here, and it 
seems to me you had better get out of their way, for 
soldiers can be awfully cross if things are not just to 
suit them." 

Well, those two men got in the old wagon without 

saying one word and started on, and we watched them 

until they had disappeared from sight around a bend, 

and then I said to Miss Hayes, " Come ! " and lifting 

22 



326 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

my skirts, I started on the fastest run I ever made in 
my life, and I kept it up until I actually staggered. 
Then I sat upon a rock back of some bushes and 
waited for Miss Hayes, who appeared after a few 
minutes. We rested for a short time and then went 
on and on, and still there was nothing to be seen of 
the meadow where the camp was supposed to be. 
Finally, after we had walked miles, it seemed to us, 
we saw an opening far ahead, and the sharp silhouette 
of a man under the arch of trees, and when we reached 
the end of the wooded road we found Captain Spencer 
waiting for us. He at once started off on a fine in- 
spection-day reprimand, but I was tired and cross and 
reminded him that it was he who had told us that 
the camp would be only one mile from us, and if we 
had not listened to him we would not have stopped 
at all. Then we all laughed ! 

Captain and Mrs. Spencer had become worried, and 
the ambulance was just starting back for us when 
fortunately we appeared. Miss Hayes cannot under- 
stand yet why I went down to that wagon. The child 
does not fear tramps and desperadoes, simply because 
she has never encountered them. Whether my move 
was wise or unwise, I knew that down on the road 
we could run — up among the rocks we could not. 
Besides, I have the satisfaction of knowing that once 
in my life I outgeneraled a man — two men — and 
whether they were friends or foes T care not now. 
I was wearing an officer's white cork helmet at the 
time, and possibly that helped matters a little. But 
why did they call to us — why beckon for us to come 
down? It was my birthday too. That evening Mrs. 
Spencer made some delicious punch and brought out 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 327 

the last of the huge fruit cake she made for the trip. 
We had bemoaned the fact of its having all been 
eaten, and all the time she had a piece hidden away for 
my birthday, as a great surprise. 

We have had one very stormy day. It began to 
rain soon after we broke camp in the morning, not 
hard, but in a cold, penetrating drizzle. Captain and 
Mrs. Spencer were riding that day and continued to 
ride until luncheon, and by that time they were wet to 
the skin and shaking from the cold. We were near- 
ing the falls, the elevation was becoming greater and 
the air more chilling every minute. We had expected 
to reach the Yellowstone River that day, but it was so 
wet and disagreeable that Captain Spencer decided to 
go into camp at a little spring we came to in the early 
afternoon, and which was about four miles from here. 
The tents were pitched just above the base of a hill — 
you would call it a mountain in the East — and in a 
small grove of trees. The ground was thickly car- 
peted with dead leaves, and everything looked most 
attractive from the ambulance. 

When Miss Hayes and I went to our tent, however, 
to arrange it, we found that underneath that thick 
covering of leaves a sheet of water was running down 
the side of the hill, and with every step our feet sank 
down almost ankle deep in the wet leaves and water. 
Each has a little iron cot, and the two had been set up 
and the bedding put upon them by the soldiers, and 
they looked so inviting we decided to rest a while and 
get warm also. But much to our disgust we found that 
our mattresses were wet and all of our blankets more 
or less wet, too. It was impossible to dry one thing in 
the awful dampness, so we folded the blankets with the 



328 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

dry part on top as well as we could, and then " crawled 
in." We hated to get up for dinner, but as we were 
guests, we felt that we must do so, but for that meal 
we waited in vain — not one morsel of dinner was pre- 
pared that night, and Miss Hayes and I envied the 
enlisted men when we got snififs of their boiling coffee. 
Only a soldier could have found dry wood and a place 
for making cofifee that night. 

When it is at all wet Faye always has our tents 
" ditched," that is, the sod turned up on the canvas 
all around the bottom. So just before dark I asked 
Captain Spencer if the men coUld not do that to our 
tent, and it was done without delay. It made a great 
difference in our comfort, for at once the incoming 
of the water was stopped. We all retired early that 
night, and notwithstanding our hunger, and the wet 
below and above us, our sleep was sound. In the 
morning we found several inches of snow on the 
ground and the whole country was white. The snow 
was so moist and clinging, that the small branches of 
trees were bent down with its weight, and the effect 
of the pure white on the brilliant greens was enchant- 
ing. Over all was the glorious sunshine that made 
the whole grand scene glisten and sparkle like fairy- 
land. And that day was the twenty-sixth of August! 

It was wretchedly cold, and our heaviest wraps 
seemed thin and light. Lottie gave us a nice hot 
breakfast, and after that things looked much more 
cheerful. By noon most of the snow had disappeared, 
and after an early luncheon we came on to these dry, 
piney woods, that claim an elevation of nine thousand 
feet. The rarefied air affects people so differently. 
Some breathe laboriously and have great difficulty in 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



329 



walking at all, while to others it is most exhilarating, 
and gives them strength to walk great distances. 
Fortunately, our whole party is of the latter class. 

Yesterday morning early we all started for a tramp 
down the canon. I do not mean that we were in the 
caiion by the river, for that would have been impossible, 
but that we went along the path that runs close to the 
edge of the high cliff. We carried our luncheon with 
us, so there was no necessity for haste, and every now 
and then we sat upon the thick carpet of pine needles 
to rest, and also study the marvelous coloring of the 
cliffs across the river. The walls of the caiion are 
very high and very steep — in many places perpendicu- 
lar — and their strata of brilliant colors are a marvel 
to everyone. It was a day to be remembered, and no 
one seemed to mind being a little tired when we re- 
turned late in the afternoon. The proprietor of the 
little log hotel that is only a short distance up the 
river, told Captain Spencer that we had gone down six 
good miles — giving us a tramp altogether, of twelve 
miles. It seems incredible, for not one of us could 
walk one half that distance in less rarefied air. 

Just below the big falls, and of course very near 
our camp, is a nature study that we find most interest- 
ing. An unusually tall pine tree has grown up from 
between the boulders at the edge of the river. The 
tree is now dead and its long branches have fallen off, 
but a few outspreading short ones are still left, and 
right in the center of these a pair of eagles have built 
a huge nest, and in that nest, right now, are two dear 
eaglets ! The tree is some distance from the top of 
the cliff, but it is also lower, otherwise we would not 
have such a fine view of the nest and the big babies. 



330 



A R M Y L E T T E RS E R O M 



They look a little larger than mallard ducks, and are 
well feathered. They fill the nest to overflowing, and 
seem to realize that if they move about much, one 
would soon go overboard. The two old birds — im- 
mense in size — can be seen soaring above the nest 
at almost any time, but not once have we seen them 
come to the nest, although we have watched with 
much patience for them to do so. The great wisdom 
shown by those birds in the selection of a home is 
wonderful. It would be utterly impossible for man 
or beast to reach it. 

Another nature study that we have seen in the 
park, and which, to me, was most wonderful, was a 
large beaver village. Of course most people of the 
Northwest have seen beaver villages of various sizes, 
but that one was different, and should be called a 
city. There were elevated roads laid off in squares 
that run with great precision from one little house to 
the other. There are dozens and dozens of houses 
— perhaps a hundred — in the marshy lake, and the 
amount of intelligence and cunning the little animals 
have shown in the construction of their houses and 
elevated roads is worth studying. They are certainly 
fine engineers. 

We take the road home from here, but go a much 
more direct route, which will be by ambulance all the 
way to Fort Ellis, instead of going by the cars from 
Mammoth Hot Springs. I am awfully glad of this, 
as it will make the trip one day longer, and take us 
over a road that is new to us, although it is the direct 
route from Ellis to the Park through Rocky Caiion. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 331 

Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, 
November, 1884. 

ONLY a few days more, and then we will be off 
for the East ! It is over seven years since we 
started from Corinne on that long march north, and I 
never dreamed at that time that I would remain right 
in this territory, until a splendid railroad would be 
built to us from another direction to take us out of it. 
Nearly everything is packed. We expect to return 
here in the spring, but in the Army one never 
knows what destiny may have waiting for them at 
the War Department. Besides, I would not be satis- 
fied to go so far away and leave things scattered 
about. 

The two horses, wagons, and everything of the kind 
have been disposed of — not because we wanted to sell 
them, but because Faye was unwilling to leave the 
horses with irresponsible persons during a long winter 
in this climate, when the most thoughtful care is abso- 
lutely necessary to keep animals from suffering. Lieu- 
tenant Gallagher of the cavalry bought them, and we 
are passing through our second experience of seeing 
others drive around horses we have petted, and taught 
to know us apart from all others. George almost 
broke my heart the other day. He was standing in 
front of Lieutenant Gallagher's quarters, that are near 
ours, when I happened to go out on the walk, not 
knowing the horses were there. He gave a loud, joy- 
ous whinnie, and started to come to me, pulling Fete 
and the wagon with him. I ran back to the house, 
for I could not go to him ! He had been my own 
horse, petted and fed lumps of sugar every day with 
my own hands, and I always drove him in single har- 



332 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



ness, because his speed was so much greater than 
Pete's. 

My almost gownless condition has been a cause of 
great worry to me, but Pogue has promised to fix up 
my wardrobe with a rush, and after the necessary time 
for that in Cincinnati, I will hurry on to Columbus 
Barracks for my promised visit to Doctor and Mrs. 
Gordon. Then on home ! Faye will go to Cincin- 
nati with me, and from there to the United States 
Naval Home, of which his father is governor at 
present. I will have to go there, too, before so very 
long. 

We attended a pretty cotillon in Bozeman last even- 
ing and remained overnight at the hotel. Faye led, 
and was assisted by Mr. Ladd, of Bozeman. It was 
quite a large and elaborate affair, and there were pres- 
ent " the butcher, the baker, and candlestick maker." 
Nevertheless, everything was conducted with the great- 
est propriety. There are five or six very fine families 
in the small place — people of culture and refinement 
from the East — and their influence in the building up 
of the town has been wonderful. The first year we 
were at Fort Ellis one would see every now and then a 
number, usually four numerals, painted in bright red 
on the sidewalk. Everyone knew that to have been 
the work of vigilantes, and was a message to some 
gambler or horse thief to get himself out of town or 
stand the shotgun or rope jury. The first time I saw 
those red figures — I knew what they were for — it 
seemed as if they had been made in blood, and step 
over them I could not. I went out in the road around 
them. We have seen none of those things during the 
past two years, and for the sake of those who have 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE ^:^^ 

worked so hard for law and order, we hope the des- 
perado element has passed on. 



Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
May, 1885. 

IT is nice to be once more at this dear old post, par- 
ticularly under such very pleasant circumstances. 
The winter East was enjoyable and refreshing from 
first to last, but citizens and army people have so little 
in common, and this one feels after being with them 
a while, no matter how near and dear the relationship 
may be. Why, one half of them do not know the uni- 
form, and could not distinguish an officer of the Army 
from a policeman ! I love army life here in the West, 
and I love all the things that it brings to me — the 
grand mountains, the plains, and the fine hunting. 
The bufifalo are no longer seen ; every one has been 
killed off, and back of Square Butte in a rolling val- 
ley, hundreds of skeletons are bleaching even now. 
The valley is about two miles from the post. 

We are with the commanding officer and his wife, 
and Hulda is here also. She was in Helena during the 
winter and came from there with us. I am so glad to 
have her. She is so competent, and will be such a 
comfort a little later on, when there will be much 
entertaining for us to do. We stopped at Fort Ellis 
two days to see to the crating of the furniture and to 
get all things in readiness to be shipped here, this time 
by the cars instead of by wagon, through mud and 
water. We were guests of Captain and Mrs. Spencer, 
and enjoyed the visit so much. Doctor and Mrs. Law- 
ton gave an informal dinner for us, and that was 
charming too. 



334 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



But the grand event of the stop-over was the cham- 
pagne supper that Captain Martin gave in our honor 
— that is, in honor of the new adjutant of the regi- 
ment. He is the very oldest bachelor and one of the 
oldest officers in the regiment — a very jolly Irishman. 
The supper was old-fashioned, with many good things 
to eat, and the champagne frappe was perfect. I do 
believe that the generous-hearted man had prepared 
at least two bottles for each one of us. Every mem- 
ber of the small garrison was there, and each officer 
proposed something pleasant in life for Faye, and 
often I was included. There was not the least harm 
done to anyone, however, and not a touch of head- 
ache the next day. 

As usual, we are waiting for quarters to avoid turn- 
ing some one out. But for a few days this does not 
matter much, as our household goods are not here, 
except the rugs and things we sent out from Philadel- 
phia. Faye entered upon his new duties at guard 
mounting this morning, and I scarcely breathed until 
the whole thing was over and the guard was on its 
way to the guardhouse ! It was so silly, I knew, to 
be afraid that Faye might make a mistake, for he 
has mounted the guard hundreds of times while post 
adjutant. But here it was different. I knew that from 
almost every window that looked out on the parade 
grovmd, eyes friendly and eyes envious were peering 
to see how the new regimental adjutant conducted 
himself, and I knew that there was one pair of eyes 
green from envy and pique, and that the least faux-pas 
by Faye would be sneered at and made much of by 
their owner. But Faye made no mistake, of course. 
I knew all the time that it was quite impossible for him 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 335 

to do so, as he is one of the very best tacticians in the 
regiment — still, it is the unexpected that so often 
happens. 

The band and the magnificent drum major, watch- 
ing their new commander with critical eyes, were quite 
enough in themselves to disconcert any man. I never 
told you what happened to that band once upon a time ! 
It was before we came to the regiment, and when 
headquarters were at Fort Dodge, Kansas. Colonel 
Mills, at that time a captain, was in command. It 
had been customary to send down to the river every 
winter a detail of men from each company to cut ice 
for their use during the coming year. Colonel Mills 
ordered the detail down as usual, and also ordered 
the band down. It seems that Colonel Fitz-James, 
who had been colonel of the regiment for some time, 
had babied the bandsmen, one and all, until they had 
quite forgotten the fact of their being enlisted men. 

So over to Colonel Mills went the first sergeant 
with a protest against cutting ice, saying that they 
were musicians and could not be expected to do such 
work, that it would chap their lips and ruin their deli- 
cate touch on the instruments. Colonel Mills lis- 
tened patiently and then said, " But you like ice dur- 
ing the summer, don't you ? " The sergeant said, 
" Yes, sir, but they could not do such hard work as 
the cutting of ice." Colonel Mills said, " You are 
musicians, you say ? " The unsuspicious sergeant, 
thinking he had gained his point, smilingly said, " Yes, 
sir ! " But there must have been an awful weakness 
in his knees when Colonel Mills said, " Very well, 
since you are musicians and cannot cut ice, you will 
go to the river and play for the other men while they 



336 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

cut it for you ! " The weather was freezing cold, and 
the playing of brass instruments in the open air over 
two feet of solid ice, would have been painful and dif- 
ficult, so it was soon decided that it would be better 
to cut ice, after all, and in a body the band went down 
with the other men to the river without further com- 
plaint or protest. 

It is a splendid band, and has always been regarded 
as one of the very best in the Army, but there are a 
few things that need changing, which Faye will at- 
tend to as quickly as possible, and at the same time 
bring criticism down upon his own head. The old 
adjutant is still in the post, and — " eyes green " are 
here ! 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
August, 1885. 

MY ride this morning was grand ! My new horse 
is beginning to see that I am really a friend, and 
is much less nervous. It is still necessary, however, 
for Miller, our striker, to make blinders with his hands 
back of Rollo's eyes so he will not see me jump to the 
saddle, otherwise I might not get there. I mount in 
the yard back of the house, where no one can see me. 
The gate is opened first, and that the horse always 
stands facing, for the instant he feels my weight upon 
his back there is a little flinch, then a dash down the 
yard, a jump over the accquia, then out through the 
gate to the plain beyond, where he quiets down and 
I fix my stirrup. 

There is not a bit of viciousness about this, as the 
horse is gentle and most affectionate at all times, but 
he has been terribly frightened by a saddle, and it is 
distressing to see him tremble and his very flesh quiver 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 337 

when one is put upon his back, no matter how gently. 
He had been ridden only three or four times when we 
bought him, and probably by a " bronco breaker," who 
slung on his back a heavy Mexican saddle, cinched it 
tight without mercy, then mounted with a slam over 
of a leather-trousered leg, let the almost crazy horse 
go like the wind, and if he slackened his speed, spurs 
or " quirt," perhaps both, drove him on again. I 
know only too well how the so-called breaking is done, 
for I have seen it many times, and the whole perform- 
ance is cruel and disgraceful. There are wicked 
horses, of course, but there are more wicked men, and 
many a fine, spirited animal is ruined, made an " out- 
law " that no man can ride, just by the fiendish way 
in which they are first ridden. But the more crazy 
the poor beast is made, the more fun and glory for the 
breaker. 

Rollo is a light sorrel and a natural pacer ; he can- 
not trot one step, and for that reason I did not want 
him, but Faye said that I had better try him, so he 
was sent up. The fact of his being an unbroken colt, 
Faye seemed to consider a matter of no consequence, 
but I soon found that it was of much consequence to 
me, inasmuch as I was obliged to acquire a more pre- 
cise balance in the saddle because of his coltish ways, 
and at the same time make myself — also the horse — 
perfectly acquainted with the delicate give and take of 
bit and bridle, for with a pacer the slightest tightening 
or slackening at the wrong time will make him break. 
When Rollo goes his very fastest, which is about 
2 :5o, I never use a stirrup and never think of a thing 
but his mouth ! There is so little motion to his body 
I could almost fancy that he had no legs at all — that 



338 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

we are being rushed through the air by some unseen 
force. It is fine ! 

Faye has reorganized the band, and the instrumen- 
tation is entirely new. It was sent to him by Sousa, 
director of the Marine Band, who has been most kind 
and interested. The new instruments are here, so are 
the two new sets of uniform — one for full dress, the 
other for concerts and general wear. Both have white 
trimmings to correspond with the regiment, which are 
so much nicer than the old red facings that made the 
band look as if it had been borrowed from the artil- 
lery. All this has been the source of much comment 
along the officers' quarters and in the barracks across 
the parade ground, and has caused several skirmishes 
between Faye and the band. It was about talked out, 
however, when I came in for my share of criticism ! 

The post commander and Faye came over from the 
office one morning and said it was their wish that I 
should take entire charge of the music for services in 
church, that I could have an orchestra of soft-toned 
instruments, and enlisted men to sing, but that all was 
to be under my guidance. I must select the music, 
be present at all practicings, and give my advice in any 
way needed. At first I thought it simply a very un- 
pleasant joke, but when it finally dawned upon me 
that those two men were really in earnest, I was posi- 
tive they must be crazy, and that I told them. The 
whole proposition seemed so preposterous, so ridicu- 
lous, so everything! I shall always believe that Bishop 
Brewer suggested church music by the soldiers. Faye 
is adjutant and in command of the band, so I was 
really the proper person to take charge of the church 
musicians if anybody did, but the undertaking was 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



339 



simply appalling. But the commanding officer in- 
sisted and Faye insisted, and both gave many reasons 
for doing so. The enemy was too strong, and I was 
forced to give in, the principal reason being, how- 
ever, that I did not want some one else to take 
charge ! 

In a short time the little choir was organized and 
some of the very best musicians in the band were se- 
lected for the orchestra. We have two violins (first 
and second), one clarinet, violoncello, oboe, and bas- 
soon, the latter instrument giving the deep organ tones. 
There have been three services, and at one Sergeant 
Graves played an exquisite solo on the violin, " There 
is a green hill far away," from the oratorio of St. 
Paul. At another, Matijicek played Gounod's " Ave 
Maria " on the oboe, and last Sunday he gave us, on 
the clarinet, " Every valley shall be exalted." The 
choir proper consists of three sergeants and one cor- 
poral, and our tenor is his magnificence, the drum 
major ! 

Service is held in a long, large hall, at the rear end 
of which is a smaller room that can be made a part 
of the hall by folding back large doors. We were 
just inside this small room and the doors were opened 
wide. On a long bench sat the four singers, two each 
side of a very unhappy woman, and back of the bench 
in a half circle were the six musicians. Those musi- 
cians depended entirely upon me to indicate to them 
when to play and the vocalists when to sing, therefore 
certain signals had been arranged so that there would 
be no mistake or confusion. There I sat, on a hot 
summer morning, almost surrounded by expert musi- 
cians who were conscious of my every movement, and 



340 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



then, those men were soldiers accustomed to mihtary 
precision, and the fear of making a mistake and lead- 
ing them wrong was agonizing. At the farther end 
of the hall the Rev. Mr. Clark was standing, reading 
along in an easy, self-assured way that was positively 
irritating. And again, there was the congregation, 
each one on the alert, ready to criticise, probably con- 
demn, the unheard-of innovation ! Every man, wom- 
an, and child was at church that morning, too — many 
from curiosity, I expect — and every time we sang one 
half of them turned arovmd and stared at us. 

During the reading of the service I could not change 
my position, turn my head, or brush the flies that got 
upon my face, without those six hands back of me 
pouncing down for their instruments. It was impossi- 
ble to sing the chants, as the string instruments could 
not hold the tones, so anthems were used instead — 
mostly Millard's — and they were very beautiful. Not 
one mistake has ever been made by anyone, but Ser- 
geant Moore has vexed me much. He is our soprano, 
and has a clear, high-tenor voice and often sings solos 
in public, but for some unexplainable reason he would 
not sing a note in church unless I sang with him, so 
I had to hum along for the man's ear alone. Why 
he has been so frightened I do not know, unless it 
was the unusual condition of things, which have been 
quite enough to scare anyone. 

Well, I lived through the three services, and sup- 
pose I can live through more. The men are not com- 
pelled to do this church work, although not one would 
think of refusing. There is much rehearsing to be 
done, and Sergeant Graves has to transpose the hymns 
and write out the notes for each instrument, and this 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 341 

requires much work. To show my appreciation of 
their obedience to my slightest request, a large cake 
and dozens of eggs have been sent to them after each 
service. It is funny how nice things to eat often make 
it easy for a man to do things that otherwise would be 
impossible ! 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
July, 1886. 

MY trip to Helena was made alone, after all ! The 
evening before I started Mrs. Todd told me that 
she could not go, frankly admitting that she was afraid 
to go over the lonesome places on the road with only 
the driver for a protector. It was important that I 
should see a dentist, and Mrs. Averill was depending 
upon me to bring her friend down from Helena who 
was expected from the East, so I decided to go alone. 
The quartermaster gave me the privilege of choosing 
my driver, and I asked for a civilian, a rather old man 
who is disliked by everyone because of his surly, dis- 
agreeable manner. Just why I chose him I cannot 
tell, except that he is a good driver and I felt that he 
could be trusted. The morning we started Faye said 
to him, " Driver, you must take good care of Mrs. 
Rae, for she asked for you to drive on this trip," 
which must have had its effect — that, and the nice 
lunch I had prepared for him — for he was kind and 
thoughtful at all times. 

It takes two days to go to Helena from here, a ride 
of forty-five miles one day and forty the second ; and 
on each long drive there are stretches of miles and 
miles over mountains and through cafions where one 
is far from a ranch or human being, and one naturally 

thinks of robbers and other unpleasant things. At 
23 



342 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

such places I rode on top with the driver, where I 
could at least see what was going on around us. 

Just before we crossed the Bird-Tail divide we 
came to a wonderful sight, " a sight worth seeing," the 
driver said ; and more to gratify him than because I 
wanted to, we stopped. An enormous corral had been 
put up temporarily, and in it were thousands of sheep, 
so closely packed that those in the center were con- 
stantly jumping over the others, trying to find a cooler 
place. In the winter, when the weather is very cold, 
sheep will always jump from the outer circle of the 
band to the center, where it is warm ; they always 
huddle together in cold weather, and herders are fre- 
quently compelled to remain right with them, nights 
at a time, working hard every minute separating them 
so they will not smother. One of the men, owner of 
the sheep, I presume, met us and said he would show 
me where to go so I could see everything that was 
being done, which proved to be directly back of 
a man who was shearing sheep. They told me that 
he was the very fastest and most expert shearer in the 
whole territory. Anyone could see that he was an 
expert, for three men were kept busy waiting upon 
him. At one corner of the corral was a small, funnel- 
shaped " drive," the outer opening of which was just 
large enough to squeeze a sheep through, and in the 
drive stood a man, sheep in hand, ever ready to rush it 
straight to the hands of the shearer the instant he 
was ready for it. 

The shearer, who was quite a young man. sat upon 
a box close to the drive, and when he received a sheep 
it was always the same way — between his knees — and 
he commenced and finished the shearing of each ani- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 343 

mal exactly the same way, every clip of the large shears 
counting to the best advantage. They told me that he 
gained much time by the unvarying precision that left 
no ragged strips to be trimmed off. The docility of 
those wild sheep was astonishing. Almost while the 
last clip was being made the sheep was seized by a 
second assistant standing at the shearer's left, who at 
once threw the poor thing down on its side, where 
he quickly painted the brand of that particular ranch, 
after which it was given its freedom. It was most 
laughable to see the change in the sheep — most of 
them looking lean and lanky, whereas in less than one 
short minute before, their sides had been broad and 
woolly. A third man to wait upon the shearer was 
kept busy at his right carefully gathering the wool and 
stuffing it in huge sacks. Every effort was made to 
keep it clean, and every tiny bit was saved. 

About four o'clock we reached Rock Creek, where 
we remained overnight at a little inn. The house is 
built of logs, and the architecture is about as queer as 
its owner, Mrs. Gates, wife of the proprietor, can 
be, and usually is, very cross and disagreeable, and I 
rather dreaded stopping there alone. But she met me 
pleasantly — that is, she did not snap my head off — so 
I gathered courage to ask for a room that would be 
near some one, as I was timid at night. That settled 
my standing in her opinion, and with a " Humph ! " 
she led the way across a hall and through a large 
room where there were several beds, and opening a 
door on the farther side that led to still another room, 
she told me I could have that, adding that I " needn't 
be scared to death, as the boys will sleep right there." 
I asked her how old the boys were, and she snapped, 



344 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

"How old ! why they's men folks," and out of the room 
she went. Upon looking around I saw that my one 
door opened into the next room, and that as soon as 
the " boys " occupied it I would be virtually a prisoner. 
To be sure, the windows were not far from the ground, 
and I could easily jump out, but to jump in again 
would require longer arms and legs than I possessed. 
But just then I felt that I would much prefer to en- 
counter robbers, mountain lions, any gentle creatures 
of that kind, to asking Mrs. Gates for another room. 

When I went out to supper that night I was given 
a seat at one end of a long table where were already 
sitting nine men, including my own civilian driver, 
who, fortunately, was near the end farthest from me. 
No one paid the slightest attention to me, each man 
attending to his own hungry self and trying to outdo 
the others in talking. Finally they commenced telling 
marvelous tales about horses that they had ridden and 
subdued, and I said to myself that I had been told 
all about sheep that day, and there it was about horses, 
and I wondered how far I would have to go to hear 
all sorts of things about cattle ! But anything about 
a horse is always of interest to me, and those men 
were particularly entertaining, as it was evident that 
most of them were professional trainers. 

There was sitting at the farther end of the table a 
rather young-looking man, who had been less talka- 
tive than the others, but who after a while said some- 
thing about a horse at the fort. The mentioning of 
the post was startling, and I listened to hear what 
further he had to say. And he continued, " Yes, you 
fellers can say what yer dern please about yer broncos, 
but that little horse can corral any dern piece of horse- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 345 

flesh yer can show up. A lady rides him, and I guess 
I'd put her up with the horse. The boys over there 
say that she broke the horse herself, and I say ! you 
fellers orter see her make him go — and he likes it, 
too." 

By the time the man stopped talking, my excitement 
was great, for I was positive that he had been speak- 
ing of Rollo, although no mention had been made of 
the horse's color or gait. So I asked what gait the 
horse had. He and two or three of the other men 
looked at me with pity in their eyes — actual pity — 
that plainly said, " Poor thing — what can you know 
about gaits " ; but he answered civilly, " Well, lady, 
he is what we call a square pacer," and having done 
his duty he turned again to his friends, as though 
they only could understand him, and said, " No cow 
swing about that horse. He is a light sorrel and has 
the very handsomest mane yer ever did see — it waves, 
too, and I guess the lady curls it — but don't know for 
sure." 

The situation was most unusual and in some ways 
mose embarrassing, also. Those nine men were rough 
and unkempt, but they were splendid horsemen — that 
I knew intuitively — and to have one of their number 
select my very own horse above all others to speak 
of with unstinted praise, was something to be proud 
of, but to have my own self calmly and complacently 
disposed of with the horse — " put up," in fact — was 
quite another thing. But not the slightest disrespect 
had been intended, and to leave the table without 
making myself known was not to be thought of. I 
wanted the pleasure, too, of telling those men that I 
knew the gait of a pacer very well — that not in the 



346 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

least did I deserve their pity. My face was burning 
and my voice unnatural when I threw the bomb ! 

I said, " The horse you are speaking of I know 
very well. He is mine, and I ride him, and I thank 
you very much for the nice things you have just said 
about him ! " Well, there was a sudden change of 
scene at that table — a dropping of knives and forks 
and various other things, and I became conscious of 
eyes — thousands of eyes — staring straight at me, as 
I watched my bronco friend at the end of the table. 
The man had opened his eyes wide, and almost gasped 
" Gee-rew-s'lum ! " — then utterly collapsed. He sat 
back in his chair gazing at me in a helpless, bewildered 
way that was disconcerting, so I told him a number 
of things about Rollo — how Faye had taken him to 
Helena during race week and Lafferty, a professional 
jockey of Bozeman, had tested his speed, and had 
passed a 2 130 trotter with him one morning. The 
men knew Lafferty, of course. There was a queer 
coincidence connected with him and Rollo. The 
horse that he was driving at the races was a pacer 
named Rolla, while my horse, also a pacer, was 
named Rollo. 

All talk about horses ceased at once, and the men 
said very little to each other during the remainder of 
the time we were at the table. It was almost pathetic, 
and an attention I very much appreciated, to see how 
bread, pickles, cold meat, and in fact everything else 
on that rough table, were quietly pushed to me, one 
after the other, without one word being said. That 
was their way .of showing their approval of me. It 
was unpolished, but truly sincere. 

I was not at all afraid that night, for I suspected 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 347 

that the horsemen at the supper-table were the " boys " 
referred to by Mrs. Gates. But it was impossible 
to sleep. The partition between the two rooms must 
have been very thin, for the noises that came through 
were awful. It seemed as though dozens of men were 
snoring at the same time, and that some of them were 
dangerously " croupy," for they choked and gulped, 
and every now and then one would have nightmare 
and groan and yell until some one would tell him 
to " shut up," or perhaps say something funny about 
him to the others. No matter how many times those 
men were wakened they were always cheerful and 
good-natured about it. A statement that I cannot 
truthfully make about myself on the same subject! 

It was not necessary for me to leave my room 
through the window the next morning, although my 
breakfast was early. The house seemed deserted, and 
I had the long table all to myself. At six o'clock we 
started on our ride to Helena. I sat with the driver 
going through the long Prickly-Pear caiion, and 
had a fine opportunity of seeing its magnificent gran- 
deur, while the early shadows were still long. The 
sun was on many of the higher boulders, that made 
them sparkle and show brilliantly in their high lights 
and shadows. The trees and bushes looked unusually 
fresh and green. We hear that a railroad will soon 
be built through that cafion — but we hope not. It 
would be positively wicked to ruin anything so grand. 

We reached Helena before luncheon, and I soon 
found Miss Duncan, who was expecting me. We did 
not start back until the second day, so she and I 
visited all the shops and then drove out to Sul- 
phur Spring. The way everybody and everything 



348 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

have grown and spread out since the Northern Pacific 
Railroad has been running cars through Helena is 
most amazing. It was so recently a mining town, just 
" Last Chance Gulch," where Chinamen were digging 
up the streets for gold, almost undermining the few 
little buildings, and Chinamen also were raising de- 
licious celery, where now stand very handsome houses. 
Now Main street has many pretentious shops, and 
pretty residences have been put up almost to the base 
of Mount Helena. 

The ride back was uneventful, greatly to Miss 
Duncan's disappointment. It is her first visit to the 
West, and she wants to see cowboys and all sorts of 
things. I should have said " wanted to see," for I 
think that already her interest in brass buttons is so 
great the cowboys will never be thought of again. 
There were two at Rock Creek, but they were unin- 
teresting — did not wear " chaps," pistols, or even big 
spurs. At the Bird-Tail not one sheep was to be seen — 
every one had been sheared, and the big band driven 
back to its range. Miss Duncan is a pretty girl, and 
unaffected, and will have a delightful visit at this 
Western army post, where young girls from the East 
do not come every day. And then we have several 
charming young bachelors ! 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
December, 1887. 

THE excitement is about over. Our guests have 
returned to their homes, and now we are settling 
down to our everyday garrison life. The wedding 
was very beautiful and as perfect in every detail as 
adoring father and mother and loving friends could 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 349 

make it. It was so strictly a military wedding, too — 
at a frontiei post where everything is of necessity 
" army blue " — the bride a child of the regiment, her 
father an officer in the regiment many years, and the 
groom a recent graduate from West Point, a lieu- 
tenant in the regiment. We see all sorts of so-called 
military weddings in the East — some very magnificent 
church affairs, others at private houses, and informal, 
but there are ever lacking the real army surroundings 
that made so perfect the little wedding of Wednesday 
evening. 

The hall was beautifully draped with the greatest 
number of flags of all sizes — each one a " regulation," 
however — and the altar and chancel rail were thickly 
covered with ropes and sprays of fragrant Western 
cedars and many flowers, and from either side of the 
reredos hung from their staffs the beautifully embroid- 
ered silken colors of the regiment. At the rear end 
of the hall stood two companies of enlisted men — one 
on each side of the aisle — in shining full-dress uni- 
forms, helmets in hand. The bride's father is captain 
of one of those companies, and the groom a lieutenant 
in the other. As one entered the hall, after passing 
numerous orderlies, each one in full-dress uniform, 
of course, and walked up between the two companies, 
every man standing like a statue, one became im- 
pressed by the rare beauty and military completeness 
of the whole scene. 

The bride is petite and very young, and looked al- 
most a child as she and her father slowly passed us, 
her gown of heavy ivory satin trailing far back of her. 
The orchestra played several numbers previous to the 
ceremony — the Mendelssohn March for processional. 



35° 



ARMY LETTERS FROM 



and Lohengrin for recessional, but the really exqui- 
site music was during the ceremony, when there came 
to us softly, as if floating from afar over gold lace 
and perfumed silks and satins, the enchanting strains 
of Moszkowski's Serenade ! Faye remained with the 
orchestra all the time, to see that the music was 
changed at just the right instant and without mistake. 
The pretty reception was in the quarters of Major and 
Mrs. Stokes, and there also was the delicious supper 
served. Some of the presents were elegant. A case 
containing sixty handsome small pieces of silver was 
given by the officers of the regiment. A superb silver 
pitcher by the men of Major Stokes's company, and 
an exquisite silver after-dinner coffee set by the com- 
pany in which the groom is a lieutenant. Several 
young officers came down from Fort Assiniboine to 
assist as ushers, and there were at the post four girls 
from Helena. An army post is always an attractive 
place to girls, but it was apparent from the first that 
these girls came for an extra fine time. I think they 
found it ! 

They were all at our cotillon Monday evening, and 
kept things moving fast. It was refreshing to have 
a new element, and a little variety in partners. We 
have danced with each other so much that everyone 
has become more or less like a machine. Faye led, 
dancing with Miss Stokes, for whom the german was 
given. The figures were very pretty — some of them 
new — and the supper was good. To serve refresh- 
ments of any kind at the hall means much work, for 
everything has to be prepared at the house — even 
coffee must be sent over hot ; and every piece of 
china and silver needed must be sent over also. Mrs. 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 351 

Hughes came from Helena on Saturday and remained 
with me until yesterday. 

You know something of the awful times I have had 
with servants since Hulda went away ! First came the 
lady tourist — who did us the honor to consent to o'lr 
paying her expenses from St. Paul, and who informed 
me upon her arrival that she was not obliged to work 
out — no indeed — that her own home was much nicer 
than our house — that she had come up to see the 
country, and so forth. We found her presence too 
great a burden, particularly as she could not prepare 
the simplest meal, and so invited her to return to her 
elegant home. Then came the two women — the 
mother to Mrs. Todd, the daughter to me — who were 
insulted because they were expected to occupy serv- 
ant's rooms, and could not " eat with the family " — 
so Mrs. Todd and I gave them cordial invitations to 
depart. Then came my Russian treasure — a splendid 
cook, but who could not be taught that a breakfast or 
dinner an hour late mattered to a regimental adjutant, 
and wondered why guard mounting could not be held 
back while she prepared an early breakfast for Faye. 
After a struggle of two months she was passed on. A 
tall, angular woman with dull red hair drawn up 
tight and twisted in a knot as hard as her head, was 
my next trial. She was the wife of a gambler of the 
lowest type, but that I did not know while she was 
here. 

One day I told her to do something that she ob- 
jected to, and with her hands clinched tight she came 
up close as if to strike me. I stood still, of course, 
and quietly said, " You mustn't strike me." She 
looked like a fury and screamed, " I will if I want to ! " 



352 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

She was inches taller than I, but I said, " If you do, 
I will have you locked in the guardhouse." She be- 
came very white, and fairly hissed at me, " You can't 
do that — I ain't a soldier." I told her, " No, if you 
were a soldier you would soon be taught to behave 
yourself," and I continued, " you are in an army 
post, however, and if you do me violence I will cer- 
tainly call the guard." Before I turned to go from the 
room I looked up at her and said, " Now I expect you 
to do what I have told you to do." I fully expected 
a strike on my head before I got very far, but she 
controlled herself. I went out of the house hoping 
she would do the same and never return, but she was 
there still, and we had to tell her to go, after all. I 
must confess, though, that the work she had objected 
to doing she did nicely while I was out. Miller told 
me that she had three pistols and two large watches 
in her satchel when she went away. 

Then came a real treasure — Scotch Ellen — who has 
been with us six months, and has been very satisfac- 
tory every way. To be sure she has had awful head- 
aches, and often it has been necessary for some 
one to do her work. She and the sergeant's wife pre- 
pared the supper for the german, and everything was 
sent to the hall in a most satisfactory way — much to 
my delight. Nothing wrong was noticed the next 
morning either, until she carried chocolate to Mrs. 
Hughes, when I saw with mortification that she looked 
untidy, but thinking of the confusion in her part of 
the house, I said nothing about it. 

Our breakfast hour is twelve o'clock, and about 
eleven Mrs. Hughes and I went out for a little walk. 
In a short time Faye joined us, and just before 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 353 

twelve I came in to see if everything was in its proper 
place on the table. As I went down the hall I saw a 
sight in the dining room that sent shivers down my 
back. On the table were one or two doilies, and one 
or two of various other things, and at one side stood 
the Scotch treasure with a plate in one hand upon 
which were a few butter balls, and in the other she 
held a butter pick. The doors leading through pantry 
into the kitchen were open and all along the floor I 
could see here and there a little golden ball that had 
evidently rolled ofif the plate. I could also see the 
range — that looked black and cold and without one 
spark of fire ! 

Going to the side of the table opposite Ellen I said, 
"Ellen, what is the matter with you?" — and looking 
at me with dull, heavy eyes, she said, " And what is 
the matter wit' you ? " Then I saw that she was 
drunk, horribly drunk, and told her so, but she could 
only say, "I'm drunk, am I?" I ran outside for 
Faye, but he and Mrs. Hughes had walked to the 
farther end of the officers' line, and I was compelled 
to go all that distance before I could overtake them 
and tell of my woes. I wanted the woman out of the 
house as quickly as possible, so that Miller — who is a 
very good cook — and I could prepare some sort of a 
breakfast. Faye went to the house with his longest 
strides and told the woman to go at once, and I saw 
no more of her. Mrs. Hughes was most lovely about 
the whole affair — said that not long ago she had tried 
a different cook each week for six in succession. That 
was comforting, but did not go far toward providing 
a breakfast for us. Miller proved to be a genuine 
treasure, however, and the sergeant's wife — who is 



354 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

ever " a friend indeed " — came to our assistance so 
soon we scarcely missed the Scotch creature. Still, it 
was most exasperating to have such an unnecessary 
upheaval, just at the very time we had a guest in the 
house — a dainty, fastidious little woman, too — and 
wanted things to move along smoothly. I wonder of 
what nationality the next trial will be! If one gets 
a good maid out here the chances are that she will 
soon marry a soldier or quarrel with one, as was the 
case with Hulda. For some unaccountable reason a 
Chinese laundry at Sun River has been the cause of 
all the Chinamen leaving the post. 

Now I must tell of something funny that happened 
to me. 

The morning before Mrs. Hughes arrived I went 
out for a little ride, and about two miles up the river 
I left the road to follow a narrow trail that leads to a 
blufif called Crown Butte. I had to go through a 
large field of wild rosebushes, then across an alkali 
bed, and then through more bushes. I had passed the 
first bushes and was more than half way across the 
alkali, Rollo's feet sinking down in the sticky mud at 
every step, when there appeared from the bushes in 
front of me, and right in the path, two immense gray 
wolves. If they had studied to surprise me in the 
worst place possible they could not have succeeded 
better. Rollo saw them, of course, and stopped in- 
stantly, giving deep sighs, preparing to snort, I knew. 
To give myself courage I talked to the horse, slowly 
turning him around, so as to not excite him, or let 
the timber wolves see that I was running from 
them. 

But the horse T could not deceive, for as soon as his 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



355 



back was toward them, head and tail went up, and 
there was snort after snort. He could not run, as we 
were still in the alkali lick. I looked back and saw 
that the big gray beasts were slowly moving toward 
us, and I recognized the fact that the mud would not 
stop them, if they chose to cross it. Once free of the 











"The poor horse was terribly frightened." 



awful stickiness, I knew that we would be out of dan- 
ger, as the swiftest wolf could never overtake the 
horse— but it seemed as if it were miles across that 
white mud. But at last we got up on solid ground, 
and were starting ofif at RoUo's best pace, when from 
out of the bushes in front of us, there came a third 
wolf ! The horse stopped so suddenly it is a wonder I 



356 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

was not pitched over his head, but I did not think of 
that at the time. 

The poor horse was terribly frightened, and I could 
feel him tremble, which made me all the more afraid. 
The situation was not pleasant, and without stopping 
to think, I said, " RoUo, we must run him down — now 
do your best ! " and taking a firm hold of the bridle, 
and bracing myself in the saddle, I struck the horse 
hard with my whip and gave an awful scream. I 
never use a whip on him, so the sting on his side and 
yell in his ears frightened him more than the wolf 
had, and he started on again with a rush. But the 
wolf stood still — so did my heart — for the beast looked 
savage. When it seemed as though we were actually 
upon him I struck the horse again and gave scream 
after scream as fast as my lungs would allow me. 
The big gray thing must have thought something evil 
was coming, for he sprang back, and then jumped 
over in the bushes and did not show himself again. 
RoUo came home at an awful pace ; but I looked back 
once and saw, standing in the road near the bushes, 
five timber wolves, evidently watching us. Just where 
the other two had been I will never know, of course. 

We have ridden and driven up that road many, 
many times, and I have often ridden through those 
rosebushes, but have never seen wolves or coyotes. 
Down in the lowland on the other side of the post we 
frequently see a coyote that will greet us with the most 
unearthly howls, and will sometimes follow carriages, 
howling all the time. But everyone looks upon him 
as a pet. Those big, gray timber wolves are quite 
another animal, fierce and savage. Some one asked 
me why I screamed, but I could not tell whv. Per- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 357 

haps it was to urge the horse — perhaps to frighten the 
wolf — perhaps to reUeve the strain on my nerves. 
Possibly it was just because I was frightened and 
could not help it! 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
May, 1888. 

SUCH upheaval orders have been coming to the 
post the past few days, some of us wonder if there 
has not been an earthquake, and can only sit around 
and wait in a numb sort of way for whatever may 
come next. 

General Bourke, who has been colonel of the regi- 
ment, you know, has been appointed a brigadier gen- 
eral and is to command the Department of the Platte, 
with headquarters at Omaha, Nebraska. This might 
have affected Faye under any circumstances, as a new 
colonel has the privilege of selecting his own staff 
officers, but General Bovirke, as soon as he received 
the telegram telling of his appointment, told Faye 
that he should ask for him as aide-de-camp. This 
will take us to Omaha, also, and I am almost heart- 
broken over it, as it will be a wretched life for me — 
cooped up in a noisy city ! At the same time I am 
delighted that Faye will have for four years the fine 
staff position. These appointments are complimen- 
tary, and considered most desirable. 

The real stir-up, however, came with orders for the 
regiment to go to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for that af- 
fects about everyone here. Colonel Munson, who re- 
lieves General Bourke as colonel of the regiment, is in 
St. Paul, and is well known as inspector general of 
this department, which perhaps is not the most flat- 
tering introduction he could have had to his new 
24 



358 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

regiment. He telegraphed, as soon as promoted, that 
he desired Faye to continue as adjutant, but of course 
to be on the staff of a general is far in advance of 
being on the staff of a colonel. The colonel com- 
mands only his own regiment — sometimes not all of 
that, as when companies are stationed at other posts 
than headquarters — whereas a brigadier general has 
command of a department consisting of many army 
posts and many regiments. 

The one thing that distresses me most of all is, that 
I have to part from my horse ! This is what makes 
me so rebellious, for aside from my own personal loss, 
I have great sorrow for the poor dumb animal that 
will suffer so much with strangers who wall not un- 
derstand him. No one has ridden or driven him for 
two years but myself, and he has been tractable and 
lovable always. During very cold weather, when 
perhaps he would be too frisky, I have allowed him 
to play in the yard back of the house, until all super- 
fluous spirits had been kicked and snorted off, after 
which I could have a ride in peace and safety. Faye 
thinks that he is entirely too nervous ever to take 
kindly to city sights and sounds — that the fretting 
and the heat might kill him. 

So it has been decided that once again we will sell 
everything — both hdrses and all things pertaining to 
them, reserving our saddles only. Every piece of fur- 
niture will be sold, also, as we do not purpose to keep 
house at all while in Omaha. How I envy our friends 
who will go to Fort Snelling! We have always been 
told that it is such a beautiful post, and the people of 
St. Paul and Minneapolis are most charming. It 
seems so funny that the regiment should be sent to 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 359 

Snelling just as Colonel Munson was promoted to it. 
He will have to move six miles only ! 

We know that when we leave Fort Shaw we will go 
from the old army life of the West — that if we ever 
come back, it will be to unfamiliar scenes and a new 
condition of things. We have seen the passing of the 
bufifalo and other game, and the Indian seems to be 
passing also. But I must confess that I have no regret 
for the Indians — there are still too many of them ! 

Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, 
May, 1888. 

THERE can be only two more days at this dear old 
post, where we have been so happy, and I want 
those to pass as quickly as possible, and have some of 
the misery over. Our house is perfectly forlorn, with 
just a few absolute necessaries in it for our use while 
here. Everything has been sold or given away, and 
all that is left to us are our trunks and army chests. 
Some fine china and a few pieces of cut glass I kept, 
and even those are packed in small boxes and in the 
chests. 

The general selling-out business has been funny. 
No one in the regiment possessed many things that 
they cared to move East with them, and as we did not 
desire to turn our houses into second-hand shops, 
where people could handle and make remarks about 
things we had treasured, it was decided that every- 
thing to be sold should be moved to the large hall, 
where enlisted men could attend to the shop business. 
Our only purchasers were people from Sun River 
Crossing, and a few ranches that are some distance 
from the post, and it was soon discovered that any- 



36o ARMY LETTERS FROM 

thing at all nice was passed by them, so we became 
sharp — bunching- the worthless with the good — and 
that worked beautifully and things sold fast. 

These moves are of the greatest importance to 
army officers, and many times the change of station is 
a mere nothing in comparison to the refitting of a 
house, something that is never taken into considera- 
tion when the pay of the Army is under discussion. 
The regiment has been on the frontier ten years, and 
everything that we had that was at all nice had been 
sent up from St. Paul at great expense, or purchased 
in Helena at an exorbitant price. All those things 
have been disposed of for almost nothing, and when 
the regiment reaches Fort Snelling, where larger 
quarters have to be furnished for an almost city life, 
the ofificers will be at great expense. Why I am both- 
ering about Snelling I fail to see, as we are not going 
there, and I certainly have enough troubles of my 
own to think about. 

This very morning, Mrs. Ames, of Sun River 
Crossing, who now owns dear Rollo, came up to ask 
me to show her how to drive him ! Just think of that ! 
She talked as though she had been deceived — that it 
was my duty to show her the trick by which I had 
managed to control the horse, and, naturally, it would 
be a delightful pleasure to me to be allowed to drive 
him once more, and so on. Mrs. Ames said that yes- 
terday she started out with him, intending to come 
to the post to let me see him — fancy the delicate feel- 
ing expressed in that — but the horse went so fast she 
became frightened, for it seemed as though the tele- 
graph poles were only a foot apart. She finally got 
the horse turned around and drove back home, when 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 361 

her husband got in and undertook to drive him, but 
with no better success ; but he, too, started the horse 
toward his old home. 

Mr. Ames then told her to have Rollo put back in 
the stable until she could get me to show her how 
to drive him. I almost cried out from pure pity for 
the poor dumb beast that I knew was suffering so in 
his longing for his old home and friends who under- 
stood him. But for the horse's sake I tried not to 
break down. I told her that first of all she must teach 
the horse to love her. That was an awfully hard 
thing to say, I assure you, and I doubt if the woman 
understood my meaning after all. When I told her 
not to pull on his mouth she looked amazed, and said, 
" Why, he would run away with me if I didn't ! " 
But I assured her that he would not — that he had 
been taught differently — that he was very nervous and 
spirited — that the harder she pulled the more excited 
he would become — that I had simply held him steady, 
no more. I saw that Mrs. Ames did not believe one 
word that I had said, but I tried to convince her, for 
the sake of the unhappy animal that had been placed 
at her mercy. 

I have often met and passed her out on the road, 
and the horse she drives is a large, handsome animal, 
and we had supposed that she was a good whip ; so, 
when Mr. Ames appeared the other day and said his 
wife had asked him to come up and buy the sorrel 
horse for her we were delighted that such a good 
home had been found for him — and for Fannie too. 
Mr. Ames bought the entire outfit. Fannie is beau- 
tiful, but wholly lacking in affection, and can take 
care of herself any place. 



362 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

All sorts of people have been here for the horses 
— some wanted both, others only one — but Faye 
would not let them go to any of them, as he was afraid 
they would not have the best of care. Rollo had 
been gone only an hour or so when a young man — a 
typical bronco breaker — came to buy him, and seemed 
really distressed because he had been sold. He said 
that he had broken him when a colt at Mr. Vaughn's. 
It so happened that Faye was at the adjutant's of- 
fice, and the man asked for me. I was very glad, 
for I had always wanted to meet the person who had 
slammed the saddle first on Rollo's back. I told him 
that it was generally considered at the post that I 
had broken the horse ! I said that he had been made 
cruelly afraid of a saddle, and for a long time after 
we had bought him, he objected to it and to being 
mounted, and I did not consider a horse broken that 
would do those things. I said also, that the horse had 
not been gaited. He interrupted with, " Why, he's 
a pacer" — just as though that settled everything; but 
I told him that Rollo had three perfectly trained 
grades of speed, each one of which I had taught him. 

The young man's face became very red and he 
looked angry, but I had a beautiful time. It was such 
a relief to express my opinion to the man just at that 
time, too, when I was grieving so for the horse. I 
saw at once that he was a bronco breaker from his 
style of dress. He had on boots of very fine leather 
with enormously high heels, and strapped to them 
were large, sharp-pointed Mexican spurs. His trou- 
sers were of leather and very broad at the bottom, and 
all down the front and outside was some kind of gray 
fur — " chaps " this article of dress is called — and in 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 363 

one hand he held a closely plaited, stinging black 
" quirt." He wore a plaid shirt and cotton handker- 
chief around his neck. That describes the man who 
rode Rollo first — and no wonder the spirited, high- 
strung colt was suspicious of saddles, men, and things. 
I watched the man as he rode away. His horse was 
going at a furious gallop, with ears turned back, as 
if expecting whip or spur any instant, and the man 
sat far over on one side, that leg quite straight as 
though he was standing in the long stirrup, and the 
other was resting far up on the saddle — which was 
of the heavy Mexican make, with enormous flaps, and 
high, round pommel in front. I am most thankful 
that Rollo has gone beyond that man's reach, as every- 
thing about him told of cruelty to horses. 

Yet, Mrs. Ames seemed such a cold woman — so in- 
capable of understanding or appreciating the affection 
of a dumb animal. During the years we owned Rollo 
he was struck with the whip only once — the time I 
wanted him to run down a wolf up the river. 

The Great Northern Railroad runs very near Fort 
Shaw now — about twenty miles, I think — and that 
will make it convenient for the moving of the regi- 
ment, and all of us, in fact. We will go to St. Paul on 
the special train with the regiment, for Faye will not 
be relieved as adjutant until he reaches Fort Snelling, 
where we will remain for a day or two. It will be a 
sad trip for me, for I love the West and life at a 
Western post, and the vanities of city life do not 
seem attractive to me — and I shall miss my army 
friends, too ! 

Perhaps it is a small matter to mention, but since 
I have been with the Army I have ridden twenty-two 



364 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

horses that had never been ridden by a woman before ! 
As I still recollect the gait and disposition of each 
horse, it seems of some consequence to me, for un- 
broken as some were, I was never unseated — not once ! 



The Paxton Hotel, Omaha, Nebraska, 
August, 1888. 

ALMOST five weeks have passed since we left 
dear Fort Shaw ! During that time we have 
become more or less accustomed to the restrictions of 
a small city, but I fancy that I am not the only one 
of the party from Montana who sometimes sighs for 
the Rocky Mountains and the old garrison life. Here 
we are not of the Army — neither are we citizens. 
General and Mrs. Bourke are still dazzled by the bril- 
liancy of the new silver star on the general's shoulder 
straps, and can still smile. Faye says very little, but 
I know that he often frets over his present monoton- 
ous duties and yearns for the regiment, his duties as 
adjutant of the regiment, the parades, drills, and out- 
door life generally, that make life so pleasant at a 
frontier post. 

Department Headquarters is in a government build- 
ing down by the river, and the offices are most cheer- 
less. All the officers wear civilian clothes, and there 
is not one scrap of uniform to be seen any place — 
nothing whatever to tell one " who is who," from the 
department commander down to Delaney, the old 
Irish messenger ! Each one sits at his desk and busies 
himself over the many neatly tied packages of official 
papers upon it, and tries to make the world believe 
that he is happy — ^but there are confidential talks, 
when it is admitted that life is dreary — the regiment 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 365 

the only place for an energetic officer, and so on. Yet 
not one of those officers could be induced to give up 
his detail, for it is always such a compliment to be 
selected from the many for duty at headquarters. 
Faye and Lieutenant Travis are on the general's per- 
sonal staff, the others belong to the department. Just 
now, Faye is away with the department commander, 
who is making an official tour of inspection through 
his new department, which is large, and includes some 
fine posts. It is known as " The Department of 
the Platte." 

Everyone has been most hospitable — particularly the 
army people at Fort Omaha — a post just beyond the 
city limits. Mrs. Wheeler, wife of the colonel in com- 
mand, gave a dancing reception very soon after we 
got here, and an elegant dinner a little later on — both 
for the new brigadier general and his staff. Mrs. 
Foster, the handsome wife of the lieutenant colonel, 
gave a beautiful luncheon, and the officers of the regi- 
ment gave a dance that was pleasant. But their or- 
chestra is far from being as fine as ours. In the city 
there have been afternoon and evening receptions, and 
several luncheons, the most charming luncheon of all 
having been the one given by my friend, Mrs. Schuy- 
ler, at the Union Club. One afternoon each week the 
club rooms are at the disposal of the wives of its 
members, and so popular is this way of entertaining, 
the rooms are usually engaged weeks in advance. 
The service is really perfect, and the rooms airy and 
delightfully cool — and cool rooms are great treasures 
in this hot place. 

The heat has been almost unbearable to us from the 
mountains, and one morning I nearly collapsed while 



366 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

having things " fitted " in the stuffy rooms of a dress- 
maker. Many of these itoin'caiix riches dress ele- 
gantly, and their jewels are splendid. All the women 
here have such white skins, and by comparison I must 
look like a Mexican, my face is so brown from years 
of exposure to dry, burning winds. Of course there 
has been much shopping to do, and for a time it was 
so confusing — to have to select things from a counter, 
with a shop girl staring at me, or perhaps insisting 
upon my purchasing articles I did not want. For 
years we had shopped from catalogues, and it was a 
nice quiet way, too. Parasols have bothered me. I 
would forget to open them in the street, and would 
invariably leave them in the stores when shopping, and 
then have to go about looking them up. But this is 
the first summer I have been East in nine years, and 
it is not surprising that parasols and things mix me 
up at times. 

Faye has a beautiful saddle horse — his gait a nat- 
ural single foot — and I sometimes ride him, but most 
of my outings are on the electric cars. I might as 
well be on them, since I have to hear their buzz and 
clang both day and night from our rooms here in 
the hotel. The other morning, as I was returning 
from a ride across the river to Council Bluffs, I heard 
the shrill notes of a calliope that reminded me that 
Forepaugh's circus was to be in town that day, and 
that I had promised to go to the afternoon perform- 
ance with a party of friends. But soon there were 
other sounds and other thoughts. Above the noise 
of the car I heard a brass band — and there could be 
no mistake — it was playing strong and full one of 
Sousa's marches, " The March Past of the Rifle Regi- 



AN OFFICER'S W I F E 367 

ment " — a march that was written for Faye while 
he was adjutant of the regiment, and " Dedicated to 
the officers and enlisted men " of the regiment. For 
almost three years that one particular march had been 
the review march of the regiment — that is, it had been 
played always whenever the regiment had passed in 
review before the colonel, inspector general of the 
department, or any official of sufficient rank and au- 
thority to review the troops. 

The car seemed to go miles before it came to a 
place where I could get off. Every second was most 
precious and I jumped down while it was still in mo- 
tion, receiving a scathing rebuke from the conductor 
for doing so. I almost ran until I got to the walk 
nearest the band, where I tagged along with boys, 
both big and small. The march was played for some 
time, and no one could possibly imagine how those 
familiar strains thrilled me. But there was an ever- 
increasing feeling of indignation that a tawdry 
coated circus band, sitting in a gilded wagon, should 
presume to play that march, which seemed to belong 
exclusively to the regiment, and to be associated only 
with scenes of ceremony and great dignity. 

The circus men played the piece remarkably well, 
however, and when it was stopped I came back to the 
hotel to think matters over and have a " heart-to- 
heart " talk with myself. Of course I am more than 
proud that Faye is an aide-de-camp, and would not 
have things different from what they are, but the de- 
tail is for four years, and the thought of living in this 
unattractive place that length of time is crushing. 
But Faye will undoubtedly have his captaincy by the 
expiration of the four years, and the anticipation of 



368 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

that is comforting. It is the feeHng of loneliness I 
mind here — of being lost and no one to search for 
me. I miss the cheery garrison life — the delightful 
rides, and it may sound funny, but I miss also the 
little church choir that finally became a joy to me. 
Sergeant Graves is now leader of the regimental band 
at Fort Snelling, and Matijicek is in New York, a 
member of the Damrosch orchestra. It is still some- 
thing to wonder over that I should have been on a 
street car that carried me to a circus parade at the 
precise time the Review March was being played ! 
It seems quite as marvelous as my having been seated 
at a supper table in a far-away ranch in Montana, the 
very night a number of horse breakers were there, 
also at the table, and one of them " put up " Rollo 
and me to his friends. I shall never forget how queer 
I felt when I heard myself discussed by perfect 
strangers in my very presence — not one of whom 
knew in the least who I was. It made me think that 
perhaps I was shadowy — invisible — although to my- 
self I did not feel at all that way. 

Faye wrote to Mr. Ames about Rollo, thinking 
that possibly he might buy him back, but Mr. Ames 
wrote in reply that Rollo had already been sold, be- 
cause Mrs. Ames had found it impossible to manage 
him. Also that he was owned by the post trader at 
Fort Maginnis, who was making a pet of him. So, 
as the horse had a good home and gentle treatment, 
it was once more decided to leave him up in his native 
mountains. It might have been cruel to have brought 
him here to suffer from the heat, and to be frightened 
and ever fretted by the many strange sights and 
sounds. But I am not satisfied, for the horse had 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 369 

an awful fear of men when ridden or driven by them, 
and I know that he is so unhappy and wonders why 
I no longer come to him, and why I do not take 
him from the strange people who do not understand 
him. He was a wonderfully playful animal, and 
sometimes when Miller would be leading the two 
horses from our yard to the corral, he would turn 
Rollo loose for a run. That always brought out a 
number of soldiers to see him rear, lunge, and snort ; 
his turns so quick, his beautiful tawny mane would 
be tossed from side to side and over his face until he 
looked like a wild horse. The more the men laughed 
the wilder he seemed to get. He never forgot Miller, 
however, but would be at the corral by the time he 
got there, and would go to his own stall quietly and 
without guidance. Poor Rollo ! 

Camp nkar Uintah Mountains, Wyoming Territory, 
August, 1888. 

TO be back in the mountains and in camp is sim- 
ply glorious ! And to see soldiers walking 
around, wearing the dear old uniform, just as we 
used to see them, makes one feel as though old days 
had returned. The two colored men — chef and butler 
— rather destroy the technique of a military camp, but 
they seem to be necessary adjuncts ; and besides, we 
are not striving for harmony and effect, but for a fine 
outing, each day to be complete with its own pleas- 
ures. It was a novel experience to come to the moun- 
tains in a private car ! The camp is very complete, 
as the camp of a department commander should be, 
and we have everything for our comfort. We are 
fourteen miles from the Union Pacific Railroad and 



370 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

six from Fort Bridger, from which post our tents and 
suppHes came. Our ice is sent from there, also, and 
of course the enhsted men are from that garrison. 

The party consists of General and Mrs. Bourke, 
Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Bourke's sister, Mrs. Ord of Omaha. 
General Stanley, paymaster, Captain Rives, judge 
advocate — both of the department staff — Lieutenant 
Travis, junior aitle-de-camp, Faye, and myself. Mrs. 
Ord is a pretty woman, always wears dainty gowns, 
and is a favorite with Omaha society people. I know 
her very well, still I hesitated about wearing my short- 
skirted outing suit, fearing it would shock her. But 
a day or two after we got here she said to me, 
"What are we to do about those fish, Mrs. Rae? 
I always catch the most fish wherever I go, but I hear 
that you are successful also ! " 

So with high spirits we started out by ourselves 
that very morning, everyone laughing and betting on 
our number of fish as we left camp. I wore the short 
skirt, but Mrs. Ord had her skirts pinned so high 
I felt that a tuck or two should be taken in mine, 
to save her from embarrassment. The fishing is 
excellent here and each one had every confidence 
in her own good luck, for the worning was per- 
fect for trout fishing. Once I missed Mrs. Ord, 
and pushing some bushes back where I thought 
she might be, I saw a most comical sight. Lying fiat 
on the ground, hat pushed back, and eyes peering over 
the bank of the stream, was Mrs. Ord, the society 
woman ! I could not help laughing — she was so 
ridiculous in that position, which the pinned-up dress 
made even more funny — but she did not like it, and 
looking at me most reproachfully said, " You have 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 371 

frightened him away, and I almost had him." She 
had, been in that position a long time, she said, waiting 
for a large trout to take her hook. The race for 
honors was about even that day, and there was no 
cause for envy on either side, for neither Mrs. Ord 
nor I caught one fish ! 

Our camp is near Smith's fork of Snake River, and 
not far from the camp is another fork that never has 
fish in it — so everyone tells us. That seemed so 
strange, for both streams have the same water from 
the stream above, and the same rocky beds. One day 
I thought I would try the stream, as Smith's fork was 
so muddy we could not fish in that. There had been 
a storm up in the mountains that had caused both 
streams to rise, so I caught some grasshoppers to bait 
with, as it would be useless, of course, to try flies. I 
walked along the banks of the swollen stream until I 
saw a place where I thought there should be a trout, 
and to that little place the grasshopper was cast, when 
snap ! went my leader, I put on another hook and 
another grasshopper, but the result was precisely the 
same, so I concluded there must be a snag there, al- 
though I had supposed that I knew a fish from a 
snag! I tried one or two other places, but there 
was no variation — and each time I lost a leader and 
hook. 

In the meantime a party had come over from camp, 
Faye among them, and there had been much good 
advice given me — and each one had told me that there 
were no fish ever in that stream ; then they went on up 
and sat down on the bank under some trees. I was 
very cross, for it was not pleasant to be laughed at, 
particularly by women who had probably never had a 



372 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

rod in their liands. And I felt positive that it had 
been fish that had carried off my hooks, and I was 
determined to ascertain what was the matter. So I 
went back to our tent and got a very long leader, 
which I doubled a number of times. I knew that the 
thickness would not frighten the fish, as the water 
was so cloudy. I fixed a strong hook to that, upon 
which was a fine grasshopper, and going to one of the 
places where my friends said I had been " snagged," 
I cast it over, and away it all went, which proved that 
I had caught something that could at least act like a 
fish. I reeled it in, and in time landed the thing — 
a splendid large trout! My very first thought was 
of those disagreeable people who had laughed at me — 
Faye first of all. So after them I went, carrying the 
fish, which gained in weight with every step. Their 
surprise was great, and I could see that Faye was 
delighted. He carried the trout to camp for me, and 
I went with him, for I was very tired. 

The next morning I went to that stream again, tak- 
ing with me a book of all sorts of flies and some 
grasshoppers. The department commander went over 
also. He asked me to show him where I had lost 
the hooks, but I said, " If you fish in those places 
you will be laughed at more than I was yesterday." 
He understood, and went farther down. The water 
was much more clear, but still flies could not be seen, 
so I used the scorned grasshopper. In about two 
hours I caught sixteen beautiful trout, which weighed, 
en masse, a little over twenty-five pounds ! I cast in 
the very places where I had lost hooks, and almost 
every time caught a fish. I left them in the shade in 
various places along the stream, and Faye and a sol- 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



373 



dier brought them to camp. A fine display they made, 
spread out on the grass, for they seemed precisely the 
same size. 

The general caught two large and several small 
trout — those were all that day. It was most remark- 
able that I should have found the only good places in 
the stream at a time when the water was not clear. 
Not only the right places, but the one right day, for 
not one trout has been caught there since. Perhaps 
with the. high water the fish came up from Snake 
River, although trout are supposed to live in clear 
water. We can dispose of any number of birds and 
fish here, for those that are not needed for our own 
large mess can be given to the soldiers, and we often 
send chicken and trout to our friends at Fort Bridger. 
The farther one goes up the stream the better the fish- 
ing is — that is, the fish are more plentiful, but not as 
large as they are here. 

About sixteen miles up — almost in the mountains — 
was General Crook's favorite fishing ground, and 
when he was in command of the department he and 
General Stanley, who also is an expert fisherman, 
came here many times, consequently General Stanley 
is familiar with the country about here. The evening 
after my splendid catch. General Stanley said that he 
would like to have Mrs. Ord and me go with him 
up the stream several miles, and asked if I would be 
willing to give Mrs. Ord the stream, as she had 
never used a fly, adding that she seemed a little 
piqued because I had caught such fine fish. I said 
at once that I would be delighted to give her the lead, 
although I knew, of course, that whoever goes second 
in a trout stream has very poor sport. But the re- 
25 



374 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

quest was a compliment, and besides, I had caught 
enough fish for a while. 

The next day we made preparations, and early oil 
the morning of the second we started. The depart- 
ment commander had gone to Omaha on official busi- 
ness, so he was not with us, and Faye did not go; 
but the rest of the party went twelve miles and then 
established a little camp for the day, and there we 
left them. Mrs. Ord and I and General Stanley, with 
a driver, got on a buckboard drawn by two mules, 
and went five miles farther up the stream, until, in 
fact, it was impossible for even a buckboard to go 
along the rocky trail. There we were expected to take 
the stream, and as soon as we left the wagon, Mrs. 
Ord and I retired to some bushes to prepare for 
the water. I had taken the " tuck " in my outing skirt, 
so there was not much for me to do ; but Mrs. Ord 
pulled up and pinned up her serge skirt in a way that 
would have brought a small fortune to a cartoonist. 
When we came from the bushes, rods in hand, the 
soldier driver gave one bewildered stare, and then al- 
most fell from his seat. He was too respectful to 
laugh outright and thus relieve his spasms, but he 
would look at us from the side of his eye, turn his face 
from us and fairly double over — then another quick 
look, and another double down again. Mrs. Ord 
laughed, and so did I. She is quite stout and I am 
very thin, and I suppose the soldier did see funny 
things about us. We saw them ourselves. 

I shall never forget my first step in that water! It 
was as chilling as if it had been running over miles 
of ice, and by comparison the August sun seemed 
fiery ; but these things were soon forgotten, for at 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



375 



once the excitement of casting a fly began. It is al- 
most as much pleasure to put a little fly just where 
you want it, as it is to catch the fish. My rod and 
reel were in perfect condition — Faye had seen to that 
■ — and ni}- book of flies was complete, and with charm- 
ing companions and a stream full of trout, a day of 




"We were obliged to wade every step." 



unusual pleasure was assured. We were obliged to 
wade every step, as the banks of the stream had walls 
of boulders and thick bushes. Most of the stream 
was not very deep, but was a foamy, roaring torrent, 
rushing over the small rocks and around the large 
ones, with little, still, dark places along the banks — 
ideal homes for the mountain trout. We found a few 
deep pools that looked most harmless, but the cur- 
rent in them was swift and dangerous to those who 



376 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

could not always keep their balance. It was most 
difficult for me to walk on the slippery stones at first, 
and I had many a fall ; but Mrs. Ord, being heavy, 
avoided upsets very nicely. At times we would be in 
water above our waists, and then Mrs. Ord and 
I would fall back with General Stanley for pro- 
tection, who alternately praised and laughed at us 
during the whole day. Mrs. Ord was very 
quick to learn where and how to cast a fly, and I 
was delighted to let General Stanley see that grass- 
hoppers were not at all necessary to my success in 
fishing. 

We sat upon a big, flat rock at luncheon, and were 
thankful that General Stanley was a tall man and 
could keep the box of sandwiches from getting wet. 
When we toppled over he always came to our assist- 
ance, so at times his wading boots were not of much 
use to him. Mrs. Ord was far ahead of me in num- 
ber of fish, and General Stanley said that I had better 
keep up with her, if I wished. The stream had broad- 
ened out some, so finally Mrs. Ord whipped the left 
side, which is easier casting, and I whipped the right. 
We waded down the entire five miles, and Mrs. Ord, 
who had the stream most of the time, caught sixty- 
four trout and I caught fifty-six, and General Stanley 
picked up fourteen, after our splashing and frighten- 
ing away the fish we did not catch. The trout were 
small, but wonderfully full of fight in that cold water. 
Of course General Stanley carried them for us. 
The driver had been ordered to keep within call on 
the trail, as General Stanley thought it would be im- 
possible for Mrs. Ord and me to wade the five 
miles ; but the distance seemed short to us ; we never 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 377 

once thought of being tired, and it was with great re- 
gret we reeled in our Hues. 

There was a beaver dam above the picnic camp, 
and before we came to it I happened to get near the 
bank, where I saw in the mud the impression of a 
huge paw. It was larger than a tea plate, and was 
so fresh one could easily see where the nails had been. 
I asked General Stanley to look at it, but he said, 
"That? oh, that is only the paw of a cub — he has 
been down after fish." At once I discovered that the 
middle of the stream was most attractive, and there 
I went, and carefully remained there the rest of the 
way down. If the paw of a mere " cub " could be that 
enormous size, what might not be the size of an or- 
dinary grown-up bear, paws included! Mrs. Ord 
declared that she rather liked little bears — they were 
so cunning and playful — but I noticed she avoided the 
banks, also. 

We had left dry clothing at the small camp, and 
when we returned we found nice little retreats all 
ready for us, made of cloaks and things, in among 
the boulders and bushes. There were cups of deli- 
cious hot tea, too ; but we were not cold, and the most 
astonishing thing about that whole grand day is, we 
did not feel stiff or the slightest discomfort in any 
form after it. The tramp was long and the water 
cold, and my own baths many. I might have saved 
myself, sometimes, from going all the way down had 
I not been afraid of breaking my rod, which I always 
held high when I fell. The day was one to be re- 
membered by Mrs. Ord and me. We had thought 
all the time that General Stanley was making a great 
sacrifice by giving up a day's sport for our amuse- 



378 ARAIY LETTERS FROM 

ment, and that it was so kind of him, for, of course he 
could not be enjoying the day ; but it seems that he 
had sport of which we knew nothing until the follow- 
ing day — in fact, we know nothing about it yet ! But 
he began to tell the most absurd stories of what we 
did, and we must have done many unusual things, 
for he is still entertaining the camp with them. He 
was very proud of us, nevertheless, and says so often. 
The ride of twelve miles back to camp seemed end- 
less, for as soon as the excitement of the stream was 
over we found that we were tired — awfully tired. 

We have only a few weeks more of this delightful 
life. The hunting is excellent, too, and Faye and 
Captain Rives often bring in large bags of mountain 
grouse and young sage hens. The sage chicken are 
as tender and delicious as partridge before they be- 
gin to feed upon wild sage in the fall, but one short 
day in the brush makes them different birds and wholly 
unpalatable. We often send birds, and fish also, to 
friends at Fort Bridger, who were most hospitable 
the day we arrived, and before coming to camp. 

I had quite forgotten the wedding yesterday ! It 
was at Fort Bridger, and the bride, a daughter of the 
post trader, is related to several families of social 
position at Omaha. We put on the very prettiest 
gowns we had with us, but the effect was disappoint- 
ing, for our red faces looked redder than ever above 
delicate laces and silks. The ceremony was at noon 
— was very pretty — and everything passed off beauti- 
fully. The breakfast was delicious, and we wondered 
at the dainty dishes served so far from a caterer. 
The house was not large, and every bit of air had 
been shut out by darkening the windows, but we were 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 



379 



spared the heat and smell of lamps on the hot day 
by the rooms being lighted by hundreds of candles, 
each one with a pretty white shade. But some of us 
felt smothered, and as soon as the afifair was over, 
started immediately for the camp, where we could 
have exhilarating mountain air once more. 

It was really one whole day stolen from our outing ! 
We can always have crowded rooms, receptions, and 
breakfasts, wherever we happen to be in the East, 
but when again will we be in a glorious camp like 
this — and our days here are to be so few ! From here 
we are to go to Salt Lake City for a week or two. 

The Walker House, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
September, 1888. 

THE weather is still very warm, but not hot enough 
to keep us from going to the lake as usual this 
morning. The ride is about eighteen miles long, and 
is always more or less pleasant. The cars, often long 
trains, are narrow gauge, open, and airy. The bathing 
is delightful, but wholly unlike anything to be found 
elsewhere. The wonderfully clear water is cool and 
exhilarating, but to swim in it is impossible, it is so 
heavy from its large percentage of salt. So every 
one floats, but not at all as one floats in other waters. 
We lie upon our backs, of course — at least we think 
we do — but our feet are always out of the water, and 
our heads straight up, wath large straw hats upon 
them. 

They have a way of forming human chains on the 
water that often startles one at first. They are made 
by hooking one's arms close to the shoulder over the 
ankles of another person, still another body hooking 



38o ARMY LETTERS FROM 

on to you, and so on. Then each one will stretch his 
or her arms out and paddle backward, and in this wa_v 
we can go about without much effort, and can see all 
the funny things going on around us. As I am rather 
tall, second position in a chain is almost always given 
to me, and my first acquaintance with masculine toes 
close to my face came very near being disastrous. 
The feet stood straight up, and the toes looked so 
very funny, with now and then a twitch back or front, 
that soon I wanted to laugh, and the more I tried not 
to the more hysterical I became. My shoulders were 
shaking, and the owner of the toes — a pompous man — 
began to suspect that I was laughing and probably 
at the toes. Still he continued to twist them around 
— one under the other — in an astonishing way, that 
made them fascinating. The head of the chain — the 
pompous man — became ominously silent. At last I 
said, almost sobbing, " Can't you see for yourself how 
funny all those things are in front of us? They look 
like wings in their pin-feather stage — only they are 
on the wrong side — and I am wondering if the black 
stockings would make real black wings — and what 
some of us would do with them, after all ! " After 
that there was less pompous dignity and less hysteria, 
although the toes continued to wigwag. 

It is a sight that repays one to watch, when dozens 
of these chains — some long, some short — are paddling 
about on the blue water that is often without a ripple. 
It is impossible to drown, for sink in it you cannot, 
but to get the brine in one's nose and throat is dan- 
gerous, as it easily causes strangulation, particularly 
if the person is at all nervous. We wear little bits of 
cotton in our ears to prevent the water from getting 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 381 

in, for the crust of salt it would leave might cause 
intense pain. 

Bathing in water so salt makes one both hungry 
and sleepy, therefore it is considered quite the correct 
thing to eat hot popcorn, and snooze on the return 
trip. We get the popcorn at the pavilion, put up in 
attractive little bags, and it is always crisp and deli- 
cious. Just imagine a long open car full of people, 
each man, woman, and child greedily munching the 
tender corn ! By the time one bag full has been eaten, 
heads begin to wobble, and soon there is a " Land of 
Nod " — real nod, too. Some days, when the air is 
particularly soft and balmy, everyone in the car will 
be oblivious of his whereabouts. Not one stop is 
made from the lake to the city. 

Faye and I were at the lake almost a week — 
Garfield Beach the bathing place is called — so I 
could make a few water-color drawings early in the 
morning, when the tints on the water are so pearly 
and exquisitely delicate. During the day the lake is 
usually a wonderful blue — deep and brilliant — and the 
colors at sunset are past description. The sun dis- 
appears back of the Oquirah Mountains in a world of 
glorious yellow and orange, and as twilight comes on, 
the mountains take on violet and purple shades that 
become deeper and deeper, until night covers all from 
sight. 

There was not a vacant room at Garfield Beach, 
so they gave us two large rooms at Black Rock — 
almost one mile away, but on the car line. The 
rooms were in a low, long building, that might easily 
be mistaken for soldiers' barracks, and which had 
broad verandas with low roofs all along both sides. 



382 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

That queer building had been built by Brigham 
Young for his seven wives ! It consisted of seven 
apartments of two rooms each, a sitting room and 
sleeping room ; all the sitting rooms were on one side, 
opening out upon the one veranda, and the bedrooms 
were on the other side and opened out upon the other 
veranda. These apartments did not connect in any 
way, except by the two porches. Not far from that 
building was another that had once been the dining 
room and kitchen of the seven wives. These mormon 
women must be simply idiotic, or have their tempers 
under good control ! 

It was all most interesting and a remarkable expe- 
rience to have lived in one of Brigham Young's very 
own houses. But the place was ghostly — lonesome 
beyond everything — and when the wind moaned and 
sighed through the rooms one could fancy it was the 
wailing of the spirits of those seven wretched wives. 
When we returned at night to the dark, unoccupied 
building, it seemed more spooky than ever, after the 
music and light at Garfield Beach. Our meals were 
served to us at the restaurant at the pavilion. I made 
some very good sketches of the lake, Antelope Island, 
and a number of the wonderful Black Rock that is 
out in the lake opposite the Brigham Young house. 

About two miles from the city, and upon the side 
of the Wasatch Mountains, is Camp Douglas, an army 
post, which the new department commander came to 
inspect. The inspection was in the morning, and we 
all went to see it^ and were driven in the post with the 
booming of cannon — the salute always given a briga- 
dier general when he enters a post officially. It was 
pretty to see the general's wife partly cover her ears, 



AN OFFICER'S WIFE 385 

and pretend that she did not Hke the noise, when all 
the time her eyes were sparkling, and we knew that 
every roar of the big guns added to her pride. If 
all those guns had been for Faye I could never have 
stayed in the ambulance. 

It is charming up there — in the post — and the view 
is magnificent. We sat out on a vine-covered porch 
during the inspection, and watched the troops and the 
review. It made me so happy, and yet so homesick, 
too, to see Faye once more in his uniform. The in- 
spection was all too short, and after it was over, many 
officers and their wives came to call upon us, when 
wine and delicious cake was served. We were at the 
quarters of the colonel and post commander. That 
was the second post we had taken Mrs. Ord to, 
and she is suddenly enthusiastic over army people, 
forgetting that Omaha has a post of its own. But 
with us she has been in the tail of the comet — which 
made things more interesting. Army people are nice, 
though, particularly in their own little garrison 
homes. 

There is only one mormon store here, and that is 
very large and cooperative. Every mormon who has 
anything whatever to sell is compelled to take it to 
that store to be appraised, and a percentage taken 
from it. There are a few nice gentile shops, but mor- 
mons cannot enter them ; they can purchase only at 
the mormon store, where the gentiles are ever cor- 
dially welcomed also. Splendid fruit and vegetables 
are grown in this valley — especially the fruit, which 
is superior to any we ever saw. The grapes are of 
many varieties, each one large and rich with flavor, 
and the peaches and big yellow pears are most 



3^6 ARMY LETTERS FROM 

luscious. Upon our table down in the dining room 
there is always an immense glass bowl of selected fruit 
— peaches, pears, and grapes, and each time we go 
down it seems to look more attractive. 

We have been to see the tabernacle, with its mar- 
velous acoustic properties, and the temple, which is 
not yet finished. The immense pipe organ in the taber- 
nacle was built where it now stands, and entirely by 
mormons. From Brigham Young's old home a 
grand boulevard runs, through the city, across the 
valley, and over the hill far away, and how much be- 
yond I do not know. This road, so broad and white, 
Brigham Young said would lead to Jerusalem. They 
have a river Jordan here, too, a little stream that runs 
just outside the city. 

There are grand trees in every street, and every old 
yard, and one cannot help feeling great indignation 
to see where in some places the incoming gentiles have 
cut trees down to make space for modern showy 
buildings, that are so wholly out of harmony with 
the low, artistic white houses and vine-covered walls. 
It is such a pity that these high, red buildings could 
not have been kept outside, and the old mormon city 
left in its original quaint beauty. 

We will return to Omaha soon now, and I shall at 
once become busy with preparations for the winter 
East. I have decided to go home in October, so I 
can have a long, comfortable visit before going to 
Washington. Faye wishes me to join him there the 
last of December. I am not very enthusiastic over 
the prospect of crowded rooms, daily receptions and 
" teas," and other affairs of more formality. But since 
I cannot return to the plains, I might as well go to 



AN 0FF1CER*S WIFE 387 

the city, where we will meet people of eulture, see 
the fascinating Diplomatic Corps, and be presented 
to the President's beautiful young wife. Later on 
there will be the inauguration — for we expect to pass 
the winter in Washington. 



(1) 



THE END 



OCT 12 1909 



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